What gift did you give your DD/DS for college graduation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Debt free college. Seriously. And at this point both kids appreciate it as they see some of their friends paying off big loans.

Us too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: College graduation? We gave the following for HS graduation from a magnet public school -

- Brand new car with all kinds of safety features because kid was a new driver
- Apple laptop, new cell phone, college gear, paid for everything but the tuition. Kid got full tuition merit aid.
- Shared the following with them - Amazon, Macys, Target, Kohls, Starbucks, Uber app/password.
- New credit card, started a brokerage account with 10K
- Graduation party and lots of dinners and celebrations
- Shopping spree for clothes

The child does not misuse any funds. We have not spent a lot of money on our kids for schooling or childcare etc. They have been generally easy, laid back, high achieving and self driven. No bad habits. Very hard working. We are also a donut hole family. We intention is to also pay for their wedding, down payment for home, future education, plus 100K seed money - though they will not want that from us.

+1 similar situation. No car allowed on campus as a freshman, but most everything else the same. The full tuition scholarship makes it all possible, with $ to spare. They earned that achievement. Our kid attends a private college, but even if it were the state flagship, the value of that scholarship is about $20k per year. So, kid contributed $20k, and we contribute substantially less than that even with the new cell phone, ability to call an Uber in a pinch, etc. This works bc DC has a track record of being reliable and responsible, thank goodness. I’m hoping this support and vote of confidence from us will allow DC to continue to focus on the big picture (school) and for this limited time not worry about the various smaller necessities.

[Anonymous]

cold hard cash

[Anonymous]

$2000 cash, no loans, dinner out, monogrammed leather tote for work

[Anonymous]

Wow! I suck. I gave my daughter a lovely gold necklace. She did graduate debt free but that wasn’t a gift. Fortunate enough to pay for school.

[Anonymous]

A nice dinner with my parents after the graduation. But seeing as they needed to take out a second mortgage on the house to pay for my college education (other than my student loans and work study contributions), I was good with that.

[Anonymous]

Both DDs got necklaces made out of old pieces of jewelry. One got watch and nice work clothes for first job, other wanted an expensive bag.

[Anonymous]

Someone please tell me that all these posts are a joke? Who spoils their kids this much????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: College graduation? We gave the following for HS graduation from a magnet public school -

- Brand new car with all kinds of safety features because kid was a new driver
- Apple laptop, new cell phone, college gear, paid for everything but the tuition. Kid got full tuition merit aid.
- Shared the following with them - Amazon, Macys, Target, Kohls, Starbucks, Uber app/password.
- New credit card, started a brokerage account with 10K
- Graduation party and lots of dinners and celebrations
- Shopping spree for clothes

The child does not misuse any funds. We have not spent a lot of money on our kids for schooling or childcare etc. They have been generally easy, laid back, high achieving and self driven. No bad habits. Very hard working. We are also a donut hole family. We intention is to also pay for their wedding, down payment for home, future education, plus 100K seed money - though they will not want that from us.

+1 similar situation. No car allowed on campus as a freshman, but most everything else the same. The full tuition scholarship makes it all possible, with $ to spare. They earned that achievement. Our kid attends a private college, but even if it were the state flagship, the value of that scholarship is about $20k per year. So, kid contributed $20k, and we contribute substantially less than that even with the new cell phone, ability to call an Uber in a pinch, etc. This works bc DC has a track record of being reliable and responsible, thank goodness. I’m hoping this support and vote of confidence from us will allow DC to continue to focus on the big picture (school) and for this limited time not worry about the various smaller necessities.

Sorry, I was trying to follow this story. How is 20K full tuition for a year at private school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For graduation we bought her the furniture, kitchen supplies, linens for her first apartment in NYC (tiny) for her first job.

She graduated from college debt free.

Same for our daughter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No student loans, a new Tesla, a trip to Europe with $10K budget to spend and now we hope DC will find a job and move out but it's been over a year since graduation.

So, obviously your approach did not yield positive results.

What do you think you teach a kid if they receive a Tesla without needing a job?

[Anonymous]

I am considering a car (which is more than I would spend on a gift, but he will be moving for grad school and cannot afford it on his own) OR an epic trip.

We did the latter upon his graduation from high school (to his dream country, on a trip geared to his interests) and it was something he will never forget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:6 months in Europe before Spring enrollment at college.

You gave her that after she graduated from college??

[Anonymous]

Law school tuition + (small) condo to live in there.

We always told him that we'd pay his undergrad (and 12 years of private school), but he was on his own for grad school. He thought thtat was fine as we obviously paid plenty already. He was thrilled.

[Anonymous]

Just shipped DC their dream car because they accepted a fantastic job offer at a top firm. Figured they’d get to enjoy their graduation present early.