<p>We had a big party for DD when she graduated in May 2010. We had also planned to give her money, but she got a nail in her tire (irreparable) and, when we took her car to the shop, we realized she needed four new tires … $500+ later and HAPPY GRADUATION!</p>
<p>OP, good question! I probably wouldn’t have started thinking or planning any of this until closer to the big day if I hadn’t come upon this post.</p>
<p>It probably is a good idea to book hotel, etc. now. We’ll also be covering the cost for relatives to travel for the graduation and a nice dinner somewhere. I’m liking the idea of a piece of jewelry as a memento of the occasion.</p>
<p>2forcollege - not to upset you, but my bet is you won´t be able to get a hotel within 50 miles radius of the school. We paid for the house 2 years ago.
The owner wouldn´t even just take a deposit for the graduation week, we had to pay everything upfront.</p>
<p>Our gift to D will be what is left in her college account. $15,000. She is moving to Europe, as she has a job there. It will help set her up nicely.</p>
<p>We did the same for S when he finished 8 years ago, but his amount was smaller. He left for Europe w/o a job, but landed one in 2 weeks.</p>
<p>Both are very grateful for all we had saved for them, but both would have had debt had they not gotten generous scholarships and attended schools that made it actually more economical for the years they studied abroad.</p>
<p>I was a may college grad back in 2005. In November of 2004 I decided to buy a car. It might seem silly to buy a new (used in this case) car during senior year when you don’t even have a job secured yet beyond graduation but it was such an amazing price I couldn’t pass it up. I was driving home on election day with my roommate to vote and we saw the car on a lot. Test drove it and bought it. I can’t believe I bought a car on a whim like that. I had looked at a few cars the summer before senior year because I was planning on purchasing a new one after I graduated… but nothing serious… By November I knew my old car was going to need 4 new tires and an inspection in December 04 so I just decided to replace it early when I saw this one at the lot. Saved 500 on the tires, at least 100 on the inspection, and got $500 for my trade.</p>
<p>My parents surprised me with a check for $500 as an early graduation gift. I could either put it towards the down payment or use it towards my payments while I was in school. I decided to put it towards my down payment. </p>
<p>They gave me a graduation party the summer after as an outdoor picnic. It was a co-graduation party with my little cousin who was just finishing high school.</p>
<p>(I still have the car, it’s been running strong <em>knock on wood</em> for over 6 years, i’ve put about 100k miles on it in that time also! Paid it off early at the end of the 2nd year of my loan! love being car loan free!)</p>
<p>2forC: re finding a hotel on graduation weekend. You might consider a house swap. I started looking for hotel rooms a few months ago and struck out on places near my D’s college (in Philly area). I mentioned this to a friend who happened to have a friend who lived a mile from D’s campus. My friend suggested a house swap–we’ve got a great summer place. He called his friends near campus and made the suggestion. His friends called us. We met in Nov when H and I went to campus to see D in a play. House swap worked out–they’ll leave their house for us the weekend of graduation; we’ll give them our summer place for a weekend in June or July. There are house swap websites. Don’t know if it would work for your family, but it’s an idea.</p>
<p>Just booked the rooms we need at a hotel near campus, got a good rate and no problem…advantage of attending a small college in a tourist destination off season.</p>
<p>D2 attends a small college in a small town. We rented a house for grad weekend for the family last May, yes, it’s that hard to get rooms. By July the larger rentals were gone for graduation weekend.
What are we giving her for graduation? Four years at the school she wanted, no loans. Framed diploma. Hearty congratulations and lots of hugs all around. Party for her friends at the rental house if she wants it.<br>
Our gift to them is their education. Middle kid still has a few thousand in loans outstanding but they are not payable or gathering interest while she is in grad school. I will pay them off when she graduates. Our oldest has stated many times that he is grateful for not having student loans compared to his friends who got cars for graduation but owed $30,000 or more on their loans.</p>
<p>While more along the sentimental lines, I have a suggestion for those who have the time and resources to do this… make them an iPhoto book from digital shots you have of them through their college years. If they have a Facebook page, you can download photos from it by right clicking on the photo and choosing ‘download’ (on a Mac you can choose ‘download to iPhoto Library’). If you don’t have many photos, see if you can contact two or three of their closest friends from college (either through Facebook messaging, texting if you have cell numbers, or a plain old snail mail letter) and see if they could discreetly choose a dozen or so photos they have and email them to you. You can obtain photos of public places they might have spent a lot of time in while in school and mix them in (off the internet, or a place’s website).</p>
<p>H will be turning 50 next week and does not want anything done at all for his birthday. So I used a bunch of photos (borrowing from photos that Ds also took, too) from our two-week trip to Hawaii that we just returned from with our girls and made him an iPhoto hardcover book. I really think he’s going to be touched.</p>
<p>forgot to add the place we used:
Vacation Rentals by Owner
VRBO.com
note that these are “by owner” so might not be like the Hilton, but for houses or condos it works out lots less expensive.</p>
<p>Her gift was a college education 4 years at her first choice school- debt free
one last vacation with her friends a week after graduation
Rent and security deposit on her apartment
Set up her apartment
New computer for grad school</p>
<p>For us, when S graduated last May, his aunt & uncle drove down from SF & we flew up to join him. We had a few meals with everyone, including one our best family friends. After the graduation, we hung around LA for a bit & they caught Amtrak up the CA coast to Seattle. We stayed there a few nights & then began our wonderful family road trip with just S, D, me & H. We saw a lot of national parks & had a fabulous time, creating great memories.</p>
<p>We gave S a Skagen watch from Costco but his wrist was too narrow to fit properly, so I returned it & just gave him some cash and the trip.</p>
<p>We hope to do another different trip when D graduates May 2011! Hope S can get some time off his job, which he should be starting in the near future.</p>
<p>Like most everyone here, the tuition was the ‘biggie’ gift. Last year we also bought him a Macbook Pro as an early grad gift since his old hand me down PC was ready to crash. He also had the luxury of not working while in school (only in summers and winter break) so ca-ching, another gift. And we’ll also pay off a chunk of loans, but not all so he can establish some credit. We were going to do a party but now I think we may just tell him that $$ may go towards the loan as well…maybe just a small gathering for his college friends.</p>
<p>I can’t let the big day come without something sentimental. I like the idea of the watch with college and year inscribed. I also decided a while ago to have a t-shirt quilt made. I’ve gathered all kinds of shirts with college logos, special events, bands he’s been in and also seen, and being a film major, movie tees. Thankfully his sweet GF is my partner in crime and helped ‘steal’ some faves and had some great ideas with the choices. Found a great place online if anyone’s interested PM me for the site.</p>
<p>I attended a wedding where the mother of the bride made several gorgeous t-shirt quilts, incorporating a shirt about how they met, their 1st date, schools & things that were important to them. It was a work of love and really touching and lovely. During the program, they talked about some of the milestones in their lives and the quilt was on display for everyone to admire & participate in a trivia game about the couple.</p>
<p>I think making a t-shirt quilt is a lovely idea–may do it myself!</p>
<p>No debt, even though it is taking him 5 years to graduate. But we plan to party like it’s 2010! :D</p>
<p>teriwtt–just throwing in that as a college junior I LOVELOVELOVE this idea. It would be a great thing to hang on to if the grad decides to delete his/her facebook after graduation (which I know many of my friends have).</p>
<p>Might have to do this for my best friend.</p>
<p>OK Hisgracefills me - who has taken over your CC account? I know you are NOT a junior already.</p>
<p>It’s true, I promise!!! I’m getting ready to start my 6th semester! =D</p>
<p>teriwtt I agree - a GREAT idea and one I’m going to steal shamelessly.</p>
<p>DS graduates with masters in May.
He will be thrilled to have me sign over the title to ‘his’ ten year old car.
He’s very unsentimental usually but seems to be emotionally attached to that old car.
It HAS taken him on many road trips since HS and through 3 different colleges.</p>
<p>I was just able to add him back onto my employer health insurance so he will have coverage as he looks for his own job/coverage.</p>