Thank-you gift for recommenders?

[deleted1248163264128]

I was curious as to what people have given their recommenders to say thank you for writing LORs.  I'm trying to figure out what to get for a professor who I don't know very well personally.

Thanks!

[CaliforniaLaw]

A gift may not be appropriate in this situation.  You might consider writing a personal thank you letter.

Best of luck at law school.

[Nicky]

Im not sure if its the right thing, but I sent a nice thank you card with a box of good chocolates to my recomenders along with telling them what schools I had been accepted to.  I think sending something is nice because of their effort.  Cheers.

[anyone]

I said the heck with the gifts....in order to get a good letter, you have to pay out the cash. In this day and age (let's pretend it's different than other "days and ages") money talks. Well, actually money walks, BS talks. Let me explain: you get in trouble, you have money....you walk. On the other hand, you get in trouble, have no money, you must BS your way out....thus money walks and BS talks. In the end, only hard cash will get you the right letter. sorry, don't kill the messsenger, hehehe

[andywp8]

i bought a book for each of my recommenders  they were both history professors who i took several classes with, and it was easy to pick out books for them 

[martinibar]

I had great personal relationships with both of my recommenders so I was able to thank them in a more personable way. With a history professor of mine I took him out for a beer and we ended up at a batting cage (go figure). I wouldn't necessarily suggest you do this with any professor, I had already graduated a few months earlier. I also had a good working relationship with him because I helped him with some preliminary research for a book he was writing and it was $2 pitchers of Sierra Nevada pale ale that night. The other recommender was a lawyer I had worked for who happened to be close friend of my father so I invited him to play a round of golf with my pops and myself.

[DaBoo]

I'm waiting to see where I decide to go, and then I might send my recommenders a thank you note with a memento from my new school ...

[tahoetahoe]

I also have been struggling w/ what to get.  I am across the country from my professor recommender, so beer is out of the question.  I have been debating as well.  I have been maybe thinking a nice bottle of wine....don't know.  I will definitely focus most of my efforts on the letter.

[MindTheGap76]

I'm not really sure what is appropriate, but I'm going to wait until I've decided where I'm going and then send a letter thanking my recommenders, tell them my plans, and include a small gift.  One of the guys who wrote a letter for me is really into war movies and has been disappointed that a lot of them aren't coming out on DVD, so I'm going to try and find a relatively new one for him.  One of my other recommenders is a philosophy professor, but I know that he is also really into Christian philosophy, so I'm going to try and find him a book along those lines.

I think as long is the gift isn't perceived as trying to influence the quality of the recommendation then it is completely appropriate.

[NYBound05]

Wow, you guys had some great ideas.  Especially the chocolates - I think I may have to steal that one.

The only problem is this... I'm planning on asking for my LOR's this month, or perhaps July at the absolute latest.  Assuming I will apply to schools in late October (I'm taking the lsat in Oct), I won't find out where I got accepted until what, December or January at the earliest? 

Don't you guys think it's a bad idea to wait so long to send thank you gifts after 6-7 months of the prof. writing the initial recommendation?  What about sending a thank you gift and a note right after I receive his rec, and then send a letter letting him know what schools I got into once I find out?  That way, he won't think of me as an ungrateful ass 3-4 months down the line for not sending him anything.