Graduation Gift Guide!

Hi everyone!! It's been a crazy couple of weeks with preparation for final exams and finishing up all of the exciting happenings for the school year, but I wanted to share with you all Chasing College's Graduation Gift Guide!

I did a Holiday Gift Guide back in December and thought that a Graduation-themed one would be fitting for the time of year! Plus, sometimes thinking of a gift for a friend, cousin, or niece who is graduating from high school or college can be rather difficult, so I came up with some great unconventional gift ideas to share with you all!

1. Address Book and Note Cards 

 As the new grad enters the real world or the real world of college, get them started with an address book and some note cards to send to people. This is a sweet and thoughtful gift that will remind the grad to stay in communication with others, even if its through the mail. 

You can add a book of stamps to the gift and even add some addresses to the address book of people they may want to write (grandparents, friends, aunts, uncles, cousins).

2. Car Care Kit

If the graduate is commuting to college or bought a new car for their college graduation, a car care kit may be a good idea as a gift! If they are commuting, you can check out my list of essentials here, which could make a great gift basket idea. Otherwise, a car care kit for people depending on their car or for the male graduate may be a thoughtful, yet practical option!

3. A Subscription Box

Subscription boxes are such a great gift idea for the graduate who is difficult to buy for or who already has everything. They are shipped to the receiver, depending on the specific box, once a month or every few months. There are options out there for everyone: the make-up lover, the health fan, or the book nerd. Here is a list of some great subscription boxes, but you can also find some just by googling it. Also, for some of those boxes, they can change the shipping address so that once they move into their dorm room or new apartment, they can receive them there!

4. Thoughtful Gift Card

I say "thoughtful gift card," because gift cards can be seen as impersonal or unthoughtful, but a card to the right place can be just the gift the grad loves! Think about those random stores that the graduate would love to shop at but may not have the money to devote to it. Especially if a big purchase is coming up, like a laptop, new suit, or leather bag, a gift card to a place where the student can buy one of those items can be really helpful to them! 

5. Inspiration Board

This may be best for a friend or an older sibling or cousin who is graduating, but if you don't have a lot of money to spend but still want to be thoughtful, create an inspiration board for them to hang up in their dorm room or home office. You can include family pictures, quotes from their favorite books, cut-outs from magazines, and other inspiring images that will help them through their next journey! A gift doesn't always have to come from the wallet to come from the heart. 

6. A Framed Picture

I am notorious for giving framed pictures to people as gifts, especially for graduation and thank you's. This is another inexpensive way to show someone how much you mean to them. Print out a picture of the two of you from an event or from a great memory you share and then put it in a nice frame from Target or HomeGoods. If you add a heartfelt note to it, it will surely be one of the graduate's favorite gifts. 

7. Office Supplies

While some people may think giving office supplies to a graduate is lame, I firmly believe that that would be setting them up for future success! While I love a good post-it note dispenser, think about gifting a cute stapler, pen holder, and organizational tray for notes or other oddities. These items do not need to be drab or lackluster. Check out specialty stores and office supply stores to find some nice and colorful products that the grad can use on their desk!

I hope my Graduation Gift Guide has provided you some inspiration for gift giving in the coming weeks. No matter what though, a gift from the heart is going to be so meaningful to the new graduate and they will be so thankful to you for it! Best wishes on your gift giving!!!

enjoy the chase,

skylar

P.S. Follow me on Twitter (@Chasing_College) and on Instagram (@skylarclapperton) to keep up to date on blog posts and videos!!

I was Accepted ... Now What?

Hi everyone! We are entering a very exciting time in the next few weeks ... COLLEGE ACCEPTANCE LETTERS are mailed out! Some universities do rolling admissions, so you may have already heard your decision, which was hopefully favorable for you! Because of this exciting time, I wanted to provide you all with some advice on what you should do once you learn that you are accepted to a university!

First things first, CONGRATULATIONS!! Getting accepted to college is a dream come true, whether you are applying to community colleges, state schools, small private colleges, or the most elite universities, it is a-okay to be excited about your acceptance! I cried when I got the phone call that I was accepted to my undergraduate alma mater because I was so happy and so excited about what was to come! This is an accomplishment in its own right, so be proud of it!

You may also want to celebrate with your family and your friends about your acceptance to college. Bake a cake, go out to a nice restaurant, blow up some balloons, and throw some confetti! You are entering the next phase of your life and it is a cause for celebration. It doesn't need to be outlandish or ridiculously expensive of course, just make it a great time to recognize where you've come and where you are possibly going!

Once you go to school the next day or a few days following, you will want to update your school counselor and the teachers/administrators who wrote your letters of recommendation. They will want to hear the update and this also gives you the opportunity to thank them for their help and support of your college application! If you want to tell your friends and other teachers, go right ahead, but don't feel obligated to inform the whole world. --This is the same for updating on social media. Obviously, if you want to update your Facebook status or post a picture of your acceptance letter to Instagram, then definitely do it, but don't feel like this is an obligatory aspect of your college acceptance!

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Plan to visit campus one more time! You can check out my post here on the difference between your first and last visit to campus, but you really should try to see campus once more before making your final decision. You can take a more in-depth look at the major you want to study and possibly talk with some administrators in the functional areas you are interested in, e.g.: Campus Ministry, Athletics, or Study Abroad Office. Most universities have Admitted Student Days, so that would be a nice chance to visit too.

At this point you should have already filed your FAFSA, but if you haven't, make sure you do that! This can give you access to more financial aid opportunities, federal loans, grants that you don't have to pay back ... so many things to help make college a little more affordable. You should also check out even more scholarships that you can apply for on that campus and throughout your community. If you have any questions or concerns about your financial aid packet once it is sent to you, be sure to call the Financial Aid Office or make an appointment to discuss particulars in person. DISCLAIMER: Don't be upset when they can't offer you any more money, a lot of times there is no amount of begging or pleading that can be done for them to find available money and give you an extra $5,000 a semester.

Without a doubt, something you should do is join that university's Facebook page for your class year. There will be administrators and upperclassmen already on that page to help answer your questions and you can also meet potential classmates of yours! Some of my first "Facebook Friends" from college came from the Class of 2014 page I joined once I was accepted and really interested in going to my alma mater. You can find people in your major or who are interested in some of the other extra-curriculars in your life, so definitely don't blow it off as something unimportant.

Finally, my advice to you is RELAX. The first and most draining part of the process is done, you have been accepted somewhere and you do have a future in college, so don't stress out. Enjoy the rest of your senior year and make sure you still keep your grades up, the university will request your final transcript!

Have you already been accepted? How did you celebrate? Share in the comments your acceptance stories :)

enjoy the chase,

skylar