Letter of Recommendation Gifts

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SG3

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Hey guys, I don't know what I should be giving to the physicians and teachers who wrote me LOR's. Some of the teachers have written me multiple. I was thinking of giving the doctors a $100 gift card but then someone told me that it might look "inappropriate." What do you guys think, I definrlru want to give them more than just a thank you card. Thanks
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You think so? I want to def get them something nice.
 
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A heartfelt thank you note should really be enough... and less awkward.
 
I sent them all cards shortly after they mailed off the letters. After my first acceptance I hand delivered two bottles of fine wine to all my letter writers. Nothing too expensive but I bought them in Napa.
 
HawaiiHereICome said:
I sent them all cards shortly after they mailed off the letters. After my first acceptance I hand delivered two bottles of fine wine to all my letter writers. Nothing too expensive but I bought them in Napa.
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I like this idea better, if you really want to give a gift, wait until you are accepted.
 
I'm not worried about cash flow, just don't want to give the wrong impression (I'm trying to buy your support).

$35 isn't excessive. The profs I have right now would not respond well to a $100 gift card. They probably wouldn't even accept it.
 
how about giving them nothing because you will never see them again
 
i gave a bottle of that 50 dollar patron tequila stuff to my lor writer

he wrote an email saying thanks.

ionno man. maybe he was just being nice.

rub ya
 
SG3 said:
Hey guys, I don't know what I should be giving to the physicians and teachers who wrote me LOR's. Some of the teachers have written me multiple. I was thinking of giving the doctors a $100 gift card but then someone told me that it might look "inappropriate." What do you guys think, I definrlru want to give them more than just a thank you card. Thanks
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In general, the return gift is a thank you card and an occasional update on your status (i.e. you got into medical school, you are doing great in medical school, you failed out of medical school, etc.). Unless things have changed drastically in the past couple of years, it is not appropriate to give your letter writers gifts valued at more than 10ish dollars. A small gift card to a place you know they like (i.e. some coffee shop) might be alright, $25-100 gift cards, bottles of tequila, and other such gifts are not okay.
 
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TooMuchResearch said:
In general, the return gift is a thank you card and an occasional update on your status (i.e. you got into medical school, you are doing great in medical school, you failed out of medical school, etc.). Unless things have changed drastically in the past couple of years, it is not appropriate to give your letter writers gifts valued at more than 10ish dollars. A small gift card to a place you know they like (i.e. some coffee shop) might be alright, $25-100 gift cards, bottles of tequila, and other such gifts are not okay.
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Okay, good. I was also under this impression. I was starting to think, "Was I being an unintentional jerk by not getting gifts for my grad-school letter writers?"
 
I think it depends on your relationship with the letter writer. One of my letter writers was a professor I had for 3 classes and my academic advisor. I happened to be in a city while an author she writes about a lot (she's an english professor) was doing a talk so I got her a signed copy of his newest book.

I also had a biochem professor who I got to know really well since there were only 4 of us in the class. We even had dinner with her and her husband at their home at the end of the semester. As a class we got her and her husband a dinner and movie night out as a thank you.

I think for most people anything >25$ is probably going to look odd, especially if you only know them well enough to get them something generic like a starbucks gift card.
 
I wrote thank you emails right after. I will also be picking them up something small (like a mug with my school's name on it) when I go to 2nd look. My organic prof specifically said he loves mugs from the schools his students go to, so that's what gave me the idea.
 
i gave my LOR writers a thank you card and a $10 gift to SBucks.
 
I'm thinking of giving them a thank you card and bake some cookies for them and bring them in a nice box. I think it'd be a nice appropriate way 🙂.
 
This would be a good topic for a poll...

I tailor my "thank you" to each writer.

  • My professors got a thank you e-mail. It's their job to help students. Believe it not, that's part of what they get paid for.
  • My physician letter writers got a bottle of wine. If you do this, buy it at a wine store (not a liquor store or grocery store). You can get a good bottle for less than $25, but the person at a wine store will be able to recommend a bottle and give you some kind of background information which you can relate to the physician when you hand it to them. It's not a physician's job to help you out, so I think a gift is appropriate--but remember that they also make real money, so focus on the thought that you put into the gift.
  • I had a weird situation where I was hired to do research in Oregon by an organization that's located in Arizona. They came to visit once and I learned that my supervisor was a foodie with a taste for spicy food. As a thank you, I sent him a couple bottles of different flavors of a "gourmet" hot sauce that's made here in Oregon (Secret Aardvark).

I also plan to have my photo taken at the white-coating ceremony, and use that photo to make a card that I'll send to all of my letter writers as an update.

In general I think anything over $25 is excessive. Teachers might feel like they shouldn't accept pricey gifts. Physicians don't need the money.
 
Lol I should probably note that all my LOR writers were people I knew very well. I knew them from class, research opportunities, formal dinners, informal dinners, sometimes I knew their daughters or sons, or usually a combination of these things. I wouldn't give a bottle of wine to someone I just knew from class.
 
$100 seems really high. I gave one of my LOR writers a $5 gift card to Barnes and Noble and now I feel pathetic. In my defense, I was in high school at the time. 😉
 
torshi said:
how about giving them nothing because you will never see them again
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Dunno if this is a joke...
They spent time writing it (however long that might be...) and hopefully gave you advice or taught you in some capacity. The least is to give something back.

I wrote thankyou emails as well as update emails on what has happened in addition to ~$30 Crate and Barrel gifts for each.
 
eli20 said:
I think it depends on your relationship with the letter writer. One of my letter writers was a professor I had for 3 classes and my academic advisor. I happened to be in a city while an author she writes about a lot (she's an english professor) was doing a talk so I got her a signed copy of his newest book.

I also had a biochem professor who I got to know really well since there were only 4 of us in the class. We even had dinner with her and her husband at their home at the end of the semester. As a class we got her and her husband a dinner and movie night out as a thank you.

I think for most people anything >25$ is probably going to look odd, especially if you only know them well enough to get them something generic like a starbucks gift card.
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The signed book is the sweetest thing I ever heard. I would love if my student did that for me! Makes a starbucks gift card sound even more horrible.

If you're a student I definitely wouldn't spend much. In my situation I was no longer a student and felt like my relationship with most of my letter writers became less like student to mentor and more like 2 colleagues? Plus they saw me more as a woman with a career and not so much as a broke student (although I was a hybrid of the two). So felt like a cheaper gift might be insulting.

I even gave the secretary of one of the docs I shadowed a small gift cause she pretty much set everything up.

I don't think anyone found my gifts "odd" at all but (as I've already mentioned somewhere) I have realized I'm bad with my money :lame:.
 
BAMF said:
$100 seems really high. I gave one of my LOR writers a $5 gift card to Barnes and Noble and now I feel pathetic. In my defense, I was in high school at the time. 😉
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WTF can you buy from there with 5 bucks??? A bookmark and water??
 
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