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Peak: May–June

Graduation Season gift guide

Mark the transition. Skip the engraved trophy.

Graduation gifts work best when they bridge to whatever comes next, not when they monument what just ended. The kid going to college needs dorm stuff and travel basics. The college grad starting a job needs a wallet that doesn't look like a 19-year-old's, a kitchen starter set, decent luggage. The grad-school grad has accumulated stuff and probably wants cash, but a beautiful pen or a leather portfolio reads as "I see you as a professional now" in a way nothing else does.

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12 picks for Graduation Season

Money in a card is fine but unmemorable. A specific functional thing they'll use throughout the next chapter — ideally something they'd put off buying for themselves — is what they'll actually remember was from you.

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More gift guides

Every occasion, in calendar order — scroll to plan ahead.

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