# So, what does a high school graduate want for a graduation gift? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630 "2013-04-13T20:18:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/1 "2013-04-13T20:18:46Z")
My friend’s oldest daughter is graduating from high school next month. I thought about a $50 Amazon gift card for a present. Are gift cards considered acceptable presents? She can spend it on just about anything at Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/2 "2013-04-13T20:21:00Z")
Money is always acceptable. Never let Miss Manners tell you otherwise! XD ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/3 "2013-04-13T20:24:10Z")
A car. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/4 "2013-04-13T20:28:03Z")
A fancy pen set ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/5 "2013-04-13T20:33:17Z")
Cash or the Amazon Gift Card. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/6 "2013-04-13T20:39:47Z")
Cash. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/7 "2013-04-13T21:00:01Z")
If she’s going to college, some swag from the college. Bottle opener, sweatshirt, etc. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/8 "2013-04-13T22:11:35Z")
The Amazon gift card sounds like a great gift. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/9 "2013-04-13T22:30:46Z")
Cash is not only the universal gift, it is, as noted by Thurston Howell III the universal language. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/10 "2013-04-13T23:19:58Z")
I got a Bible from one of my relatives. Didn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/11 "2013-04-13T23:27:05Z")
If she’s going to college or university, something useful for the planned program of study is always good. When I went to university in 1981, my father gave me an engineering calculator. My sister gave me a really good dictionary. Failing that, a $100 food card is good for students not on a prepaid residence meal plan. Save this until about five or six months into the program, when student loans are mostly spent and everyone is becoming lean and poor. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/12 "2013-04-14T00:02:41Z")
> [@Yorikke](#): > > I got a Bible from one of my relatives. Didn’t work. Did you make sure there wasn’t a check for that car you wanted inside the Bible? ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/13 "2013-04-14T00:09:49Z")
Cash ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/14 "2013-04-14T00:15:04Z")
Luggage is handy. Money is always good. I’m making a tshirt quilt for one of my relatives using the shirts from all the HS plays he was in. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/15 "2013-04-14T00:20:02Z")
Yeah, when I graduated from HS (back in the '90s) then most of the gifts I received from adult relatives and family friends were in the form of checks. An Amazon gift card sounds perfectly acceptable to me. She can buy almost anything on Amazon that a college student might want: textbooks, stuff for her dorm room, clothes, MP3s, DVDs, even packaged food. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/16 "2013-04-14T00:21:33Z")
Gift cards are a great idea for someone who’s going off to college. It only when you move out of your parents’ house that you realize all the little things you need that they’ve accumulated and you haven’t, like a fever thermometer, can opener, box of fabric softener, or who knows what else. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/17 "2013-04-14T02:10:13Z")
Thought of more… A pen/pencil bouquet Desk organizers, scissors, stapler, tape disp, etc First aid kit or stock of medicinals…aspirin, Tylenol, Alka Seltzer, cold meds (this stuff’s expensive) Emergency car kit, ice scraper, flashlight, jumper cables, etc ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/18 "2013-04-14T02:53:02Z")
The two best graduation gifts I received about a decade ago when I graduated we’re cash and an alarm clock that I never slept through. I was really sad when the alarm clock died after 6 years it was a great travel sized one but amazing reliable and for some reason I couldn’t sleep through it. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/19 "2013-04-14T03:30:43Z")
Cash is indeed very appreciated. The best gift I received was a swiss army knife. Not a dinky red handled one, but one like [this](http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Swiss-Pioneer-Pocket-Knife/dp/B000687B4O/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&qid=1365909864&sr=8-27&keywords=swiss+army+knife). Opens bottles, cans, has screwdriver tips on the can opener/bottle opener, and a useful sized blade. Cut down the use for several different utensils. I know your recipient is a girl, but there will be something she needs a tool for, so maybe a basic tool box? I know it isn’t sentimental or decorative, but it will come in handy way more than you (or she) will think! Something like [this](http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Precision-DT0773N1-135-Piece-Household/dp/B000GUTJRY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1365910189&sr=8-3&keywords=girl+tool+set), perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630/20 "2013-04-14T05:59:27Z")
The best gifts I got for graduation were a nice throw blanket, a touch lamp and an overnight bag. I needed all of these things for living in the dorm and I still use every single one of those things to this day, 16 years later. Oh and none of the cash I got went to waste, either 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-a-high-school-graduate-want-for-a-graduation-gift/655630.md?page=2)