Some Graduation Gift Ideas:

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When you’re about to head off to college suddenly everyone wants to buy you a nice, practical gift. The thing is, it’s rough to come up with a list of everything you need, especially before you have a roommate. Because you don’t know the situation of who you’re living with, you don’t want to buy your fridge, TV, microwave, or bedding yet.

So here is a list of some great things to ask for:

Super Cheap: Posters, removable wall stickers, and other decorations 

            Simple decorations can go a long way when it comes to decorating your room. I still have a clock and a white board that my friends bought me on my 18^th birthday. Decorations can be exactly catered to your taste, will transfer room to room, and come at a variety of prices.

Moderately Priced: School Swag

            When you’re in college it’s totally acceptable to roll out of bed in a t-shirt and sweatshirt, pull on jeans, and head to class. Just make sure you’re showing off your school spirit while doing this. While people will tell you again and again not to buy T-shirts before you head to school (because you’ll get a million free ones), I think it’s a good idea to get one or two in designs you really like. I have cut up almost all of my free school shirts into tanktops for the gym because most of them are pretty ugly and unflattering. But I do have 3 really pretty; flattering t-shirts I got for graduation. A good sweatshirt (with embroidered letters) is another good, but slightly more expensive, investment.

Unknown Price: Amazon Gift Cards

            Textbooks are the biggest scam you’ll come across in college. Don’t be fooled by the bookstore prices, you can almost always find them used  (and way cheaper) on Amazon. Amazon gift cards can be used to pay for textbooks in the new school year (an excellent investment). This is also a good thing to ask for from people who haven’t given you a price range for gifts.

Expensive: Netflix

            If you don’t already have Netflix, and you have a pretty generous gift coming your way, get a Netflix streaming account (DVDs are a waste of money). Hulu Plus is another option, but seriously, Netflix is essential in college. They can gift you a subscription, and it will be a good time-waster when you get to school. Even if you don’t have a TV, seriously, there will be days you need to watch all of 30 Rock or Scrubs in one sitting.
This was my “big” present senior year (from all of my aunts and uncles) and it was such a good investment that my entire family mooched onto my account and its now a “family” account (that I no longer have to fund!).

Other things to ask for:
A new wallet or ID holder (NOT A LANYARD).

Rain Boots (seriously, you’ll need them)

Kindle (I know real books are better, but you don’t have a ton of storage in college!)

A laptop (seriously essential in college)

Noise canceling headphones (I have earbuds for running, but a good pair of headphones is very necessary).