I graduated from HS over 30+ years ago. My parents gave me some sort of Waterford fountain pen that I have not used once but I did randomly come across it the other day. I don’t think they gave me anything for college.

The gift was my parents paying for my college (in-state) tuition. And flowers. No present upon graduating, but I also realize the immense privilege I was in to have had my college experience paid for.

I couldn't imagine feeling entitled to more than that.

Anonymous wrote:High school:. Sheets and towels for my dorm room.
College:. A new mattress and comforter set for my first apartment.
Best gift:. Being so incredibly excited and proud. They truly acted like I had won the Nobel prize or Academy Award. It was embarrassing and endearing. I had to struggle to remember the material gifts, but I could instantly remember my dad telling the waiter at lunch after the ceremony, "This girl is SMART. She's going places!"

That is so sweet. Brought a tear to my eye. What a great memory!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$500/month for a car? Yeah, that is ridiculous for a recent college grad

My husband drives a pretty nice Toyota sedan and it is $350-ish/month.

Average car payment in the U.S. is $568

$609 for new cars or $465 for used, it's absolutely ridiculous.

I'm the pp who said $500/month for a car originally. My friends put $0 down. Some of the cars weren't that great and were pretty average in my opinion. I have no idea what their loan lengths were too, some might have been 2 years instead of 5 years. I just remember that they couldn't save any money because of it while I squirrelled away money for a house downpayment.

2 year car loan? Is that even possible? Last time I looked the minimum was 3 ys to a max of 8

I can't remember if this was my high school graduation gift or my 18th bday gift (they were a month apart) but I remember getting a pair of pearl earrings with a little ring of diamonds around them. Those were pretty.

College graduation gift was a watch.

Anonymous wrote:For those of you saying nothing, you really didn’t get anything for college? No sheets for your bed in the dorm or a laundry bag to take to the laundry room? All that stuff to go to college you bought yourself?

Well high school isn't really seen as an accomplishment. The school of hard knocks is more of an accomplishment, unfortunately. I've seen more congratulations for a teen pregnancy than a high school graduate. But it's built into the culture, a pregnancy gets a baby shower, a high school graduate gets whatever a parent wants to throw at them.

Same with college graduation, if your family has only a middle school graduation rate. What is their to celebrate?How? These circles see it as exclusionary. So on to the next generation...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$500/month for a car? Yeah, that is ridiculous for a recent college grad

My husband drives a pretty nice Toyota sedan and it is $350-ish/month.

Average car payment in the U.S. is $568

$609 for new cars or $465 for used, it's absolutely ridiculous.

I'm the pp who said $500/month for a car originally. My friends put $0 down. Some of the cars weren't that great and were pretty average in my opinion. I have no idea what their loan lengths were too, some might have been 2 years instead of 5 years. I just remember that they couldn't save any money because of it while I squirrelled away money for a house downpayment.

Anonymous wrote:$500/month for a car? Yeah, that is ridiculous for a recent college grad

My husband drives a pretty nice Toyota sedan and it is $350-ish/month.

Average car payment in the U.S. is $568

$609 for new cars or $465 for used, it's absolutely ridiculous.

I honestly don't remember actual gifts or parties. A bunch of my friends had parties after HS graduation in '94, so we all got together. One of them was during the OJ chase - THAT was memorable!

I'm sure I got some checks from relatives, but I didn't do anything super exciting with the money. Probably threw it in a bank account to use for expenses.

We'll probably do a party of some sort when our oldest graduates in 2 years. We'll just be glad when she graduates.

Anonymous wrote:For those of you saying nothing, you really didn’t get anything for college? No sheets for your bed in the dorm or a laundry bag to take to the laundry room? All that stuff to go to college you bought yourself?

In my neighborhood, everyone had graduation parties and the gifts people would bring for those going on to college were just that: sheets, towels, shower caddies, etc. It was like a "graduate going to college shower." I remember feeling so touched by the gift of my own set of towels; weird to look back on but it nearly brought me to tears.

Dinners out after HS and college, backyard BBQ after grad school. Only got a present after HS - duffel bag/trunk for packing things for college.

High school: a family party in the back yard. I think I got a typewriter too, a fancy one with the correction tape ribbon, but I don't think they considered it a gift. It was on the "what you must bring to college" list.
College: a party at a friend of a friend's house near the school and my class ring (which I love).
Law School: a leather portfolio.

Anonymous wrote:For those of you saying nothing, you really didn’t get anything for college? No sheets for your bed in the dorm or a laundry bag to take to the laundry room? All that stuff to go to college you bought yourself?

The fact that many of our parents purchased the items we needed for college doesn't mean they were HS graduation gifts. It's not like I came home from the commencement ceremony with my diploma and my parents handed me a wrapped set of sheets. Two months later, we went to Target and picked out some sheets, along with a shower caddy and a bunch of other stuff, to take to college.

I received a hand-made laundry bag from my mom for HS graduation. I think that was about it, but I'm not a big gift person and my family isn't a big gift family.

For those of you saying nothing, you really didn’t get anything for college? No sheets for your bed in the dorm or a laundry bag to take to the laundry room? All that stuff to go to college you bought yourself?

High school: dinner after graduation. High school wasn't a memorable or happy experience. I was glad to move on.

Parents did fully pay for an expensive private college and that was the real gift.

College: dinner after graduation!

Graduate school: dinner after graduation!

I worked part time in college and grad school to pay for summer travels and other social activities. Didn't expect or ask much of my parents as they were very generous in other areas (paying the tuition).