Thank yous for LORs

[Guest]

When i first asked for my LORS, i included a thank you note to each professor. I've heard that people have given gifts, etc. to profs for writing their letters - is this the norm? now that i'm hearing back from schools, should i send another thank you w. a gift? and if so, what kind of gift?

i have been out of school for 2 years, but still keep in touch w. these profs, but its not like i can just drop by their office and say i'd like you buy you a coffee for writing my letters or anything. anyone have any thoughts on this? they wrote great letters so i don't want to make it seem like i am ungrateful.

thanks:)

[Bianca]

what I did was buy each of them some sweets and drop by their office, telling them I have been admited and thanking them again for their LORs. (now, of course, I come from a very different culture, so this might not be appropriate in the US)

[gradgirl]

Yeah, I don't know. I'm wanting to do something nice for my thesis chair at the end of the semester too. I was thinking of baking him cookies or something, some kind of homemade baked goods... but then I started thinking... what if he's diabetic? what if he doesn't eat sweets? then what?

It's hard to come up with ideas for stuff like this.

[locura81]

I've been waiting to do "real" thank yous. Like you, guest, after initially receiving the copies of their letters for mailing, I sent them all notes of thanks. I've been thinking of doing something along the lines of the following - once I decide where I'll be attending, I'm going to try and select some little gift that is related to that school. Maybe a coffee mug with that school's logo or just something creative-like. I figure that it would be a nice personal touch in addition to the standard formal letter of thanks. I've been lucky to receive some great financial aid offers, so I figure the least I can do is get my writers a parting gift!

[History_Nerd]

what if he's diabetic? what if he doesn't eat sweets? then what?

It's hard to come up with ideas for stuff like this.

Hilarious! I never would have thought of that! Wow. Plus I can't bake. :?

[Guest c2d2]

am i a putz if i just send a nice thank you email in lieu of buying/making something?!? :oops:

[Guest guest123]

cdc2 - thats what i would rather do!

although - i do like the idea of getting a small something related to the school - cute idea!

[locura81]

I definitely don't think that it would be improper to write a nice thank you email - professors are ever aware of the fact that we students (or students-to-be, as it were) aren't rich. As I'd said, I'm going to go with the small gift thing simply because I've had such good fortune. But sincere words probably speak more than trinkets, so I don't think you can really go wrong.

[redice]

I also pondered how to properly thank my LOR writers. I see most of them a few times a week and I said thank you to them quite a few times. But I reccently went on trips to view the schools and decided I would get them something on the trip. Since I decided on a school in Florida I bought them allagator teeth. They thought it was great and got a kick out of it. Of course this may not work with all prof's, but I have pretty good relationships with all of them and they know I am pretty goofey.

A thank-note is good too, I would send it when you decide where you will be going and that way you can mention it in the letter. Since they went through the trouble to write letters for you, they will be curious to see where you go and where their letters got you in at. The thought will be appriciated. I would probably actually write a note, you can get simple thank-you notes pretty cheap and it is more personal than an email. Anyways, just my thoughts.