Happy New Year everyone! I am excited about the coming year as my D is graduating college in May 2018.
It is hard to believe 7 semesters have passed (by quickly) and that now she will be starting her final semester.
I don’t know if it has really hit her yet but I am trying to plan for it.
Created this thread to find out what everyone else is planning for their graduate. Are you planning a vacation, a special gift, a party, or some other type of celebration?
I haven’t made any plans yet but wanted to hear what everyone else is doing. Have you booked hotels or notified other family members to save the date? Please share what you have planned so that we can all benefit from everyone’s ideas. One thing I would like for her to do is get nice photographs taken around campus possibly in springtime.
She will have two graduation ceremonies, one for the dept where she will get to walk across the stage and get her diploma (followed by dept reception and awards ceremony) and then a big ceremony the next day for the whole school. Both are scheduled on weekdays (Thursday, Friday) so I am thinking about letting family members know so that they can arrange travel and I’m also trying to figure out plans for everyone over those days since they may stay the weekend. Also thinking about a celebration with some of her classmates aside from the one with just family. (maybe just combine them and have one celebration)
I haven’t really thought of a gift but I helped her come up with a starter work wardrobe. Her plans for after graduation have not been finalized but she is looking into several options.
Attended the winter graduation ceremony of a friend’s daughter and I saw that the school had arranged for flower vendors and graduation frames and tshirts to be sold outside the arena.
Our youngest graduated in 2010…but here is what we did.
1.Regarding lodging…we booked a FULL year in advance. And glad we did. In our case, we booked all the rooms at a recommended B and B…I had communicated with the owner who told me she didn’t take reservations until one year out. I actually stalked her website at midnight so I could reserve! Hotels in college graduation towns tend to fill up…so if you want hotel rooms…get on that NOW.
This was pre Airbnb…so you might want to check that too. Some folks we know rented whole houses.
We invited family to attend but the graduation for,this kid was across the country. Still, we had 10 family members there. The graduation was in the morning...so we actually made reservations at a nice restaurant at 2:30 in the afternoon. It was perfect...and was not crowded.
Then we had a gathering around the B and B pool at about 6:30…with food and champagne…lighter fare. So much fun.
3.because it was 3000 miles away, we did make it a 6 day event. Some folks came for less. Those who stayed came with is to Napa for the day on the Monday after the graduation.
Our gift to our kids was US paying their student loans when they came due for payment. That was it.
We arrived in the graduation town on Thursday. We had dinner reservations with everyone else for Friday evening at a great Asian place. Breakfasts were at the B and B....very convenient. Saturday was the graduation events. Sunday, we relaxed at the B and B with those still there. One family took the train to San Francisco for the day. Monday to Napa. Tuesday we took a favorite professor to brunch. Flew home Wednesday.
@thumper1 Thanks for the tips. Bookings a year in advance and here I was thinking that I was planning too early.
Thankfully both ceremonies will be indoors and I found out they will have sections reserved for elder guests who can’t walk so much or climb stairs. There will be golf carts and shuttle buses to take people from the different parking lots to the arena. I will inquire about hotel availability immediately. The last few years graduation was always scheduled on the weekend so I was surprised that this year it was scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
“Regarding lodging…we booked a FULL year in advance.”
We did the same thing. We have four rooms booked for the days around graduation (Spring 2018). We still don’t know who will show up to take the rooms. We have not made any other plans at all, yet.
The school where my S went (a smaller LAC) planned so many activities, we didn’t have to plan anything. We di attend a party at his friends house the first night, but there was a luncheon and departmental receptions the afternoon before and a big school party that night. The graduation was the next morning. Hotels sold out in 15 minutes 364 days prior to graduation so we ended up staying in the dorms, which was actually more convenient because we could easily walk everywhere.
I have one graduating in May and one who kit graduate in Dec. The one in May has said several times she doesn’t want to participate in graduation, so when I was booking tickets for spring break I didn’t book one for graduation. She can change her mind but I doubt she will. She didn’t like her high school graduation and didn’t like her boy friend’s from this same school. I’d rather go to her senior day for her sport, so I booked that weekend and spring break week. Although she graduated May 5, she might still be playing her sport so can’t leave until that’s over.
For her gift, she’s getting g a violin as a combo 21st birthday and grad present. That’s what she wants.
My son is graduating in May, but has no interest in going to graduation. His last final is a Friday, and we head to the Caribbean on Saturday. He will start work right after we get back. It was his request that we plan the trip as we did, so he can start working earlier. He could have started as late as August, but he is eager to start saving money.