Practical Graduation Gifts for College Bound Seniors

Every June, high school seniors prepare to celebrate their long awaited graduation from high school. It's becoming almost as big a celebration as marriage, confirmation, or a bar mitzvah. And with the celebration come a correspondingly large number of gifts. Though gift certificates are always appreciated, just graduated students are often overloaded with them by the time graduation is over. A practical gift showing that you care is more meaningful and will often be enjoyed more. Here is a (nonexclusive) list of practical presents for college bound seniors:

Posters for the dorm: There's nothing worse than a bare standardized dorm room. College students love to decorate their dorm to make it unique. Especially with witty or emotionally meaningful posters. However, they often forget to buy posters for college because they are so caught up with getting necessary materials and wondering how they are ever going to survive a year of college. You can solve this problem by giving posters as a graduation present.

Ear plugs: Let's face it- college dorms are loud. Sometimes its practically impossible for students to sleep or get anything productive done with the party going on next door and the argument between roommates. A nice pair of earplugs (make sure they are high quality or they will not offer nearly enough protection) will be greatly appreciated.

A book light: It's the classic college problem- your roommate is sleeping and you need to study in your room yet you don't want to turn on the light and wake them up. Solution- a book light. Give your college bound senior a book light as a gift and in a few months they'll be extremely grateful to you.

Fuzzy slippers: slippers are very practical for walking around in the dorm, especially in winter when it gets cold. During fire drills and bathroom visits in the middle of the night (some of the bathrooms are shockingly far from dorm rooms) your college student will be happy to have them.