Thank you etiquette

[LISage]

I was just wondering if there is a standard protocol for thanking the people who wrote me letters of recommendation. Is a simple thank you card appropriate? Or should I send a gift card? I know that filling out recommendation forms are very time consuming so I want to make sure that I do something nice so they know how grateful I am.

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[cara susanna]

I just gave them a hand-written thank you card.

 

[bitingmynails]

i sent each of them a thank you card, small box of chocolate and a scarf (all three were women). the gifts were from a trip that i went on in december, right after submitting the apps -- they had known about the trip because i had been pressuring them to finish submitting their materials before i left, even though i was going away two weeks before the deadlines (i was going to be out of the country for 2 weeks and didn't want to deal with coordinating that stuff via internet cafes). so because of that, i wanted to bring them back something. i think otherwise, a thank you note would be fine. maybe throw a starbucks gift card in there if you are feeling generous

 

[TuTuPsychL]

I always gave a hand-written card and a Starbucks giftcard (lucky for me, I knew that all of my recommenders were Starbucks junkies. If you are particularly close with one or all, you might go with something more personal. I'd say $20-25 is a generous gift.

 

[Prsstnt]

I meet two of my recommenders on a regular basis. I gave them both Thank-you cards and chocolates. I sent a Thank you card to the third recommender. I had called all of them to Thank them personally and give them the news when I received my acceptance.
Last year I called them to Thank them for their support and report being rejected.
They have all been very supportive.