How do we say "Thank you" for the reference letters?

[DariaZ]

I want to know all if your opinion on thanking the person that provided references for us. Do you think it is appropriate to give them a box of chocolates after we receive the letter?
I walk by several professors that gave me letters every day and I feel like I need to do something besides just saying thank you.

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[jblil]

The best way to say thank you to your professors is to send them updates when you're in PT school. Believe me, there is no better pleasure for a teacher than to see how one of his/her former students is doing, once the student has gone on to "bigger and better" things. Send them a short email after you've completed your first semester of PT school. Keep in touch with them, esp. if they are your favorite profs, and I guarantee you it'll pay off some day. Consider it your first steps at networking.

I have kept in touch with one of my MBA profs from 13 years ago. In the last couple of years, he has helped me out in more ways than one; I have also done him a couple of favors when I could, so it's truly a 2-way street.

 

[nniedz]

I got each of them a couple of cupcakes from a little bakery near me and delivered them in person with a thank you card.... might have been too much but they really appreciated it! I also plan to update them once I hear back from PT schools

 

[qtran]

I gave my professors and the two PTs that verified my hours each a 25$ gift card. It cost me 100$ total, but what they did for me was priceless!

 

[jblil]

Call me old-fashioned, but never in a million years would I dream of making a financial gift to folks who wrote a LOR for me.

 

[Member60439]

I was canning with a friend and gave my jars of homemade jam as a thank you. I also plan to update references when I hear back from schools.

 

[NewTestament]

I would not make financial gifts to LORs. They don't need your money. You need the money much more than they do. Chocolate and food are fine, but they might not like what you give them. I gave my LORs thank-you notes (hand-delivered) and I plan to update them at the end of my first trimester.

Kevin

 

[djb051]

I gave the PT that wrote me a LOR some chocolate chip cookies made from scratch.

 

[RunnerGirl30]

A gift card is a really nice idea. And I disagree about it being 'bad' to give a financial gift. Writing a letter is nothing they have to do for you, and it does take some time. As students, we seem to feel like we have some sort of entitlement where they are supposed to write us these letters. Thats not true. Thanks these professors in some way (its not old fashioned!)

 

[DariaZ]

Thank you so much for all of your inputs, I really appreciate it.
I decided that once I hear from school, I will get some good cookies or something of this sort

 

[okramango]

After my recommenders submitted, I sent each of them a handwritten thank you card along with a piece of chocolate. All four of them contacted me afterward thanking me for this gesture. I really did appreciate the time and energy that each of them spent not only to recommend me, but also acting as a mentor to me in various ways, and I wanted to express this to them with the small thank you gift.

 

[starrsgirl]

I am a "long shot" applicant so if I even get an interview, I'm sending local wine and cards to all 3 people who wrote LORs and to the 2 or 3 main essay editors/sounding boards/application double checkers!!! But then again, I know all of my letter writers really well.

 

[Ngozi Onyema]

I just got the recommendation letter from one of my professors today. I'm thinking of giving her a thank you card in person on Monday but I don't know what else to give her. Maybe a thank you card in person is enough. And I'll also keep her updated on whether and where I've been accepted and where I'm going to DPT school.

 

[Ngozi Onyema]

I gave the professor a thank you card.

You know I just realized that I owe one of my references a thank you beyond the reasoning of the LOR. I used to work with this reference, he's a PT and one Christmas he gave me this vehicle survival kit with a flashlight radio with compass and other things in the kit. For years I went without using the kit because I had no need for it but recently that kit really got me and my family through the week long blackout that we had after hurricane Sandy. So far he's done a PTCAS LOR for me and one for a non-PTCAS school. I just recently asked him to do another LOR for another non_PTCAS school (which he agreed) and it looks like I'll be asking him for a couple more LOR for two more non-PTCAS schools. For one of those non-PTCAS schools I have to see him in person to get a signature on a PT observation hours form. When I see him for that I have to bring a great gift, especially since it's around Christmas too.

While on the topic of recommendation letters, would you get a recommendation letter from a course that you got a C grade from? I'm taking Cell Biology and I did pretty good on the first two exams (88% and 83%) and on the quizzes I'm averaging about an 85% but I just took a test yesterday that I think I might have failed. I know if I passed it was no more than low 70% if I'm lucky (which I haven't been in a long time). Plus I have a final this Tuesday and I'm not sure how well I'll do on it either even though I am trying. Besides that, this professor is still trying to learn my name with only one day left in the semester. He's been busy I know and granted my name is foreign but I've had professors who've learned and said my name multiple times after only the first couple of days of the semester. This professor told me that my name is complicated.

I don't know. I did really good in Chemistry but for one I took the course so long ago (2 years ago) that I don't think it would be right to go to that professor because he might not remember me and 2: my Chemistry professor was no where near the nicest person. He was difficult to approach so I wouldn't feel comfortable asking him for a recommendation letter despite the good grade (A & B) in his Chemistry 1 and 2 course. And I believe I need a science professor's recommendation but the problem with that is that I haven't taken many science courses in a while. Besides this Biology I'm taking now, the last science course I took was Chemistry and Physics 2 years ago and before that A&P almost exactly 10 years ago.

So I have no choice but to get the recommendation from this Biology professor but at the same time it's his choice whether he wants to give me the recommendation or not. If I end up with a C in his class he probably won't write me a LOR.

Anyway I already have a LOR from a professor, she's just not a science professor.