Graduation Gifts 101: Students Share Ideas on What Works, What Doesn't

With 255 proud new graduates in the community, it’s a time of celebration – and wondering what kind of gift to give.

Giving a personal and practical gift to students who have just graduated high school can be a tricky task, but it can also be an extremely rewarding one if you can find the perfect little something to go a long way.

So we asked graduating seniors to give us their opinion on what the best gifts to receive really are. (You might be surprised to find out that cash wasn’t at the top of all of their lists, though each of the three graduates did mention it).

Practicality trumps all

“I think the best graduation gifts are things that are either A. super practical or B. super nice (or) cool,” explained Rachel Pernick of Huntington Woods. This 18-year-old, who is headed off to the University of Michigan, said that things in the “practical” category include “things to make college life easier.”

“What I don’t mean is dorm stuff, like toiletry organizers or corkboards. These things are totally useful, but I think that secretly our moms and dads love to take us Target shopping,” she explained. “Instead, get your grad a gift card to Zingerman’s or the best sandwich place around. This will integrate your grad into the city and keep his/her belly full.”

Rachel Sabbath, also 18 and of Huntington Woods, said that when it does come to those little items that are undeniably useful for life in a dorm room, cash or a check just might be the way to go, however.

Sabbath will be attending the University of Michigan, too, and said that money as a gift comes in handy when you need “to buy all of those little things that make lousy gifts, like detergent, dryer sheets, flash drivers, coffee filters (and) batteries.”

So, while practical gifts trump money, money trumps toiletries, they say.

Grad gifts aren’t universal

Iyana Shelby, an 18-year-old graduate from Southfield who will be attending Vassar College, has slightly different views and believes there are some practical college-life gifts that are reasonable to get. Some things are big-ticket items, and others are the bare necessities.

“People can give things like electronics,” she explained, suggesting iPod players or accessories, “and other small things, like hangers and storage containers."

Sabbath said that for her, even a coffee maker would be an excellent and thoughtful gift. Rather than blowing through gift cards or being tempted by the dazzling coffee shops all around campus, she’s looking for practical and sustainable items.

“I’m not a coffee drinker yet but everyone tells me I will be soon,” she said. “So instead of spending a fortune at Starbucks, you can make your own coffee in your room.”

If you like to give cash

It’s safe to say that no graduate will likely turn down cash, but it’s clear that some appreciate that type of gift more than others.

“Money is cool,” Pernick said. “(It) is super useful to buy things with, but if you're a college kid, you might just buy hundreds of dollars worth of Red Bulls and Tootsie Rolls.”

Instead, a gift of money is better translated into something that shows its value, she said.

“If you really want to show your love in legal tender, the one really important thing you can do is to make sure that your grad has a bike,” she suggested. “A good bike will last your grad through college and beyond, and will prove to be priceless.”

Shelby, on the other hand, said the money that comes in her graduation cards will be very useful. In fact, she finds it preferable.

“I find money to be the best gift because it allows the graduate more freedom to buy what they need for college and in some cases, that money is used towards saving for the big things, like computers and such,” she said. “If some money is left over, that could be used for books and food and whatever would make that college experience easier.”

As Sabbath said, things like TP and Post-it Notes aren’t the greatest gifts (yet they will be needed at some point), so there has to be a balance between receiving money and practical gifts.

A good read

Believe it or not, books were also among these graduates' concerns when it comes to going off to college.

Although it seems to be a popular gift for grads, there’s many different ways to approach it. While Shelby was interested in funding her textbooks, Pernick just suggested a good read and Sabbath wanted a book somewhere in between: a college survival guide.

“Lots of your questions answered and many of your worries soothed in one convenient little book,” she said.