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The proud owner of a college diploma should also be the proud owner of an actual toiletries bag—not a grimy ziplock bag. This hangable canvas toiletry kit is one of our picks for a host of functional reasons, and it looks great, particularly in the metallic pink. The two roomy mesh pouches (big enough for a regular bottle of shampoo or a canister of shaving cream) make it easy to see what they have inside, and the small snap-off pouch allows them to take necessities on the go.

Set them up for a life of self-sufficiency with our pick for best multitool. The Leatherman Skeletool CX is a classic, worn on the belts of many a handy person; this lighter model is a great starter tool, with a sharp knife, needle-nose pliers, a wire cutter, a bottle opener, two Phillips screwdrivers, two flat screwdrivers, and a carabiner clip—and it fits comfortably in one’s pocket. It’s backed by a 25-year warranty, and our testers have been using theirs for a decade with no sign of breakdown.

It’s time to chuck the worn out college backpack for something a little sleeker. This canvas messenger bag is low profile and professional but not briefcase-level stuffy. It’s one of our favorite messenger bags, and our testers noted a roomy interior with space for a laptop plus the collection of other daily essentials like water bottles and lunch bags. Note that taller or broader grads might not find the 50-inch strap long enough to wear crossbody comfortably; it is removable, though, and the bag has a handle.

Your recent college grad most likely needs a break from macroeconomics and the 18th-century novel, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to learn songwriting from Alicia Keys or study photography with Annie Leibovitz. A year’s subscription to the online learning platform MasterClass is about $180 and will enable your grad to explore new subjects and learn from the best. It offers filmmaking with Martin Scorsese, inclusive leadership with Bill Clinton, philosophy with Cornel West, and 180 other classes to choose from.

Before Cheryl Strayed became famous for her memoir, Wild, she wrote an advice column on the website The Rumpus using the pseudonym Dear Sugar that quickly became a full-blown phenomenon. Tiny Beautiful Things, a collection of the best Dear Sugar columns, was first published 10 years ago and recently reissued as a special edition with additional columns. What makes this book so beloved is Strayed’s heartfelt, honest, and compassionate advice on everything from art and self-discovery to sex and relationships. A new show based on the book is on Hulu, too.

As graduates wean themselves off the dining-hall meal plan and late night takeout, a subscription to MìLà’s VIP Soup Dumpling Club would be welcome. The Seattle-based company ships two bags of frozen soup dumplings plus sauce in dry ice every two months. The resulting 100 dumplings are juicy, pillowy, and flavorful, and nothing like grocery store options. You have the choice to add a bamboo steamer included in the first shipment; it makes steaming them up easier, but each bag also contains paper liners that will prevent the dumplings from sticking to metal steamer baskets, too.

Our top-pick travel backpack is perfect for the graduate planning a grand tour after matriculating. The REI Co-op Ruckpack 60+ Recycled Travel Pack has a spacious interior, a tough exterior, a removable day pack, comfortable, adjustable straps and a hip belt, and even a laptop sleeve (which could alternately be used as a hydration reservoir). It’s too big for carrying-on, especially with strict European airlines, but with the zip-off daypack it’s pretty much all you need for a longer journey. Note that the men’s and women’s versions have the same capacity but are built for different torso lengths.

You’re not really a grown-up until you have the tools (and bare-minimum skills) to put together your own furniture and hang your own art. Buy your grad a tool kit and save them the stress: The basic Anvil Homeowner’s Tool Set has all the essentials in a small package at a great price, which is why it’s been our favorite for years. Not only is the set particularly compact—excellent for small new digs—but it has a wide range of bits and handy clamps, and each tool has a steady, solid hand feel.

Since we rely on our phones for nearly everything these days, being caught with a dead battery is a real bummer. Make sure the grad in your life has a little extra power in their pocket. We picked this charger because it’s only about the size of a deck of cards, it can charge two devices at the same time, and it holds enough power to recharge a cellphone about three times.

If your grad loved college, these school-specific charms would be a welcome and sentimental gift. At the time of publication, the jeweler offers over 150 school seals—the list skews a little East Coast—engraved in four finishes including sterling silver, gold plate, and 14k gold. Both the sterling silver and gold-plate options are under $200, look expensive, and hold up well, even with daily wear.

Grads are going to have new digs to decorate, and these classic banners are a good way to get started. Each 28-by-6-inch flag is made from wool felt that’s cut and sewn by hand in Buffalo, New York, with large appliqué letters and riveted corners. A handful of banners are ready-made, such as ones for Brooklyn, New York and Japan, but the custom banners pack the most punch. For an extra $10 (and an extra four to six weeks) order any ole town—as long as it’s 12 letters or less—in one of 16 color combos. If you don’t have time for all that, the company stocks wool felt pennants for every state in the union for only about $28.

Whether they want to gaze upon their recently earned diploma, a fond memory from studying abroad, or a photo of their family at commencement, the grad on your list will certainly appreciate you handling the cost of framing. Framebridge, our favorite online framing service, gives the option to frame both original art or digital photos in the simplest process of all that we tested. Your grad just needs to mail in or upload the piece they want framed, select from their frame and matting styles, and Framebridge will mail it back to them ready to hang.

For the budding chef with an empty cupboard, give the gift of flavor. Curio Spice Company’s Culinary Essentials features eight upscale spices including Sicilian Chile Flakes, sea salt from Maine, and Spanish Paprika, which will prevent your grad from stopping mid-recipe and realizing they’re ill-prepared. Curio’s spices are sourced from small, sustainable farms around the world and toasted and ground in New England, where Curio is based.

Without a library across the quad or the nudging of a course syllabus, some recent grads may find it hard to even crack open a book. A monthly book delivery from Book of the Month might be a perfect alternative. Readers select one of five to seven titles from a range of genres. For each book, BOTM offers info including a synopsis, a review, an excerpt, and a “good to know” section (which includes trigger warnings or details readers might want to be aware of before choosing a title). And if for whatever reason they’re not excited by the month’s choices, they can skip for free or, for about $10, choose a book from past months’ selections.

Moving on from their comfortable campus, their established friends, and their familiar routine, some grads may find themselves a little more stressed than usual. Help them find a little calm with a year-long membership to our favorite meditation app, Headspace. It has a great selection of courses that aim to combat stress and insomnia, as well as several meditations with goals especially useful for grads, like managing work stress or improving creativity.

For academic conferences, business trips, or leisure travel, your graduate will need proper luggage. We have many great picks for carry-on backpacks, carry-on suitcases, and duffles. But our travel team deems this sleek Away suitcase well worth the hype. The durable polycarbonate hardshell case weighs only 7.6 pounds and has the best 360-degree rollers of any suitcase we tested. The 40-liter carry-on (enough room for three to five days away) comes with an ejectable, TSA-approved USB charger that can charge your phone up to four times, a laundry bag, a built-in combination lock (also TSA approved), and, best of all, a lifetime warranty. Away suitcases are available in four sizes for those taking longer trips.

Everyone knows it’s hard to get up early and head to work. Ease your grad’s morning struggle with a sunrise alarm clock. In contrast to the soul-crushing buzz of a regular alarm clock, this Philips model wakes your grad up with an ersatz sunrise designed to resemble a bright day. When the Philips SmartSleep Wake-up Light reaches the zenith of its brightness, it emits one of five nonaggressive alarm options, such as chirping birds or gentle piano music. And in the evening, it creates a faux sunset to help your graduate wind down.

Our coffee-obsessed testers concluded that this cute, compact Nespresso maker is the simplest and most affordable way to make ristrettos, espressos, and lungos at home. The lack of bells and whistles is a big part of its charm and makes the learning curve next to nothing. We also love its small footprint. It uses Nespresso coffee pods and comes with a starter pack of 16, but if your grad wants to branch out and explore the world of coffee, it’s also compatible with pods from brands like Lavazza and Starbucks.

It’s time to graduate out of those dorm-room twin XLs and into a proper adult bed with proper adult sheets. If they prefer soft, cool, crisp sheets, the Brooklinen Classic Percale Sheets, one of our top printed-sheet picks, are a great bet. The set comes with a flat sheet, a fitted sheet, and two pillowcases. For about $80 more you can upgrade to the Classic Hardcore Sheet Bundle, which adds a duvet cover and two extra pillowcases to the mix. Another bonus: Brooklinen sheets are OEKO-TEX certified to be free of harmful substances.

Yes, your graduate can continue drinking from the assorted mugs and Mason jars they’ve spent years accumulating. However, the more adult option is to use a proper set of glasses. The simple and classic Bormioli Rocco Rock Bar glasses (the top pick in our drinking glass guide) are dishwasher safe and stackable. And they’re durable enough to hold up against careless roommates—they even survived our test drops onto a marble floor.

Pulling a record out, placing it on a turntable, and lifting and lowering the needle is just so much smoother than shrieking across the room for Alexa to play a track. The Victrola Eastwood Signature Hybrid is the best turntable for beginners (your grad is likely to be a beginner, after all). It’s easy to set up, provides sound quality good enough for most people, and is Bluetooth enabled if they want to mix it up and play music off their phones. And at about a third of what a full stereo setup costs, it won’t be a heartbreaker should it get little use.

As many staffers have come to learn since working at Wirecutter, you haven’t really cooked until you’ve cooked in a cast-iron skillet. And, yes, cast-iron pans are notoriously finicky. But now that your graduate is a real adult and hopefully capable of taking care of their things, they’re likely up for the challenge. Get them this skillet from Lodge, which is lighter than other cast-iron skillets we’ve tried and better at searing; it also comes with a good factory seasoning and has easy-to-grip handles.

For a quick, delicious breakfast that can be consumed on the go, it’s hard to beat making your own smoothie. The NutriBullet Pro 900 can turn fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables into a smooth, blended treat, and its travel lid lets you easily take your breakfast with you. Even after testing the many NutriBullet models available, we determined that the Pro 900 should remain our top pick as the best personal blender for its powerful motor, convenient design, and low price. And compared with a full-size blender, it is much easier to clean and doesn’t take up nearly as much space in a shared kitchen.

It’s not a cashless society yet (and even if it does become one, things will hopefully never be so dystopian as to eliminate the need for five different coffee-shop punch cards). With a slim wallet, your grad won’t have to sacrifice precious space in their bag or pocket. We suggest many great picks in our guide. But for a classic look that matches most styles, this wallet from Leatherology is easy to slide cards in and out of, it features pliable leather, and you can even get it monogrammed.

For someone new to balancing a job and home life, an electric pressure cooker can make the difference between enjoying a home-cooked meal and ordering takeout (again). An Instant Pot can slow-cook, sauté, steam, braise, and cook grains, risotto, and even yogurt with no need for stirring. It’s the ultimate set-and-forget cooking appliance, worth every inch of counter space it takes up in even the most-crowded shared kitchen. Our top pick, the Instant Pot Duo 6-Quart, usually costs about $100 or less and can easily feed a family or handle dinner for one.

When outfitting the kitchen of a new cook, easy to use and maintain pieces are key. Start with a top-quality Dutch oven. In addition to roasting and braising, it’s good for boiling pasta, sautéing vegetables, simmering soup, or making a big, hearty mac and cheese. The Lodge 6-Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven is the top pick in our Dutch oven guide. Its enamel coating makes it less temperamental to clean than unfinished cast iron. The light interior lets you easily see whether the food has browned yet. And it’s available in more than a dozen colors, making it a colorful accent piece for the stovetop.

Instead of choosing a nonstick pan, which can suffer scratches from metal utensils or damage from improper washing, opt for a durable stainless steel pan. The Tramontina Gourmet Tri-Ply Clad 12-Inch Fry Pan is the runner-up pick in our guide to the best skillet. It’s close to a third of the price of our top pick, it comes with a lifetime warranty, and it can sear or sauté just about anything.

Finally, no kitchen is complete without a durable baking sheet or two. This Nordic Ware half sheet can roast vegetables, bake cookies, catch drippings, and even handle a pizza. The high rim helps keep an unsteady hand from dumping its contents while pulling it out of the oven. During the testing for our best baking sheet guide, it didn’t warp at high temperatures, even after years of cranking out cookies in our test kitchen.

The best budget is the one your grad will stick with, and You Need A Budget, one of the top picks in our guide to the best budgeting apps and tools, is built for financial newbies and econ majors alike. Its simple onboarding allows your gift recipient to easily track transactions across various credit cards and bank accounts. Plus, it helps out with math, identifies month-to-month trends, and lets them see their finances at a glance via its mobile app.

Plucked from the idyllic woods of their sprawling campus and thrust into the chaos of city life, your graduate will be grateful to receive a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. Our top pick for over-ear headphones, the Jabra Elite 85h, is a wireless pair that gets 36 hours of use on a single charge and lets your giftee enjoy music and movies without disturbing a roommate.

Your graduate can probably get by with just a chef’s knife, a paring knife, and a bread knife. But if you want to set them up with all the knives they could need in one go (along with a handy block to store them in), a knife set makes a wonderful gift. The absolute best for the job is the durable Wüsthof Classic Ikon 7-Piece Walnut Knife Block Set. This set includes the most useful knives for kitchen use, plus pull-apart shears, a honing steel, and a storage block. If you’re looking for something less expensive, the knives in the Victorinox 4-Piece Knife Set with Fibrox Handles have stainless steel blades that hold their edge better than knives in any other set we tested for $200 or less.

Without their dining-hall meal plan, your college grad is in for a rude awakening if they try to buy lunch every day. Save them the struggle by encouraging packed lunches in an adorable bento box. The Takenaka Bento Bite Dual’s microwave-safe and dishwasher-safe compartments offer infinite snack-storage options. And its geometric shape and poppy colors are so cute that your grad will look forward to using it. (But be warned: staff writer Dorie Chevlen has used hers for about three years and learned the hard way that it’s no good for transporting liquids. Think sandwiches, not saucy dishes.)

A laptop backpack is the best bet for a grad who needs to look professional but still prefers toting their stuff hands free. Everlane’s The ReNew Transit Backpack has sleek lines and a flat-to-the-body shape, so it won’t be bulky on a rush-hour train. We also love that it’s water resistant, has all metal hardware, and keeps their computer in a pocket right up against their back for extra security. This option is perhaps less durable than some of our other heavy-duty laptop backpack picks, but for price and style, it’s a clear winner.

You can find plenty of great, functional cutting boards, but if your grad would appreciate one that doubles as a beautiful serving tray (think lovely charcuterie boards) and triples as a juice-catching carving board, we recommend the Teakhaus Edge Grain Professional Carving Board. It measures a generous 20 by 15 inches and weighs a hefty 10 pounds, making it better suited for special occasions than everyday chopping. The handles on each side make a ta-da presentation that much easier.

As your graduate starts doing their own cooking, make sure they don’t accidentally stain their clothes with splattering sauces and unruly ingredients. Of the many aprons we tested, the Hedley & Bennett Crossback Apron stood out as the crowd favorite, thanks to the comfortable cotton material and soft yet sturdy construction. And should your graduate choose to share with roommates, the apron is also gender-neutral and adjustable to fit a wide range of sizes.

After someone graduates from college, it’s important to always have a bottle of something bubbly in the fridge just in case something good happens (and having it guarantees that something good will happen). Of course, nothing is wrong with using a mug. But the Riedel Vinum Cuvee Prestige flutes, our favorites from testing, elevate the sipping experience. Their nonleaded crystal sparkles under the light more than regular glass, and their tulip shape helps them preserve bubbles better than any other Champagne glass we tested. We’ll toast to that.

If your grad is moving into their first real apartment, make it a smart one. Using an Amazon Echo or Google Home (go with the former if your grad uses Alexa, the latter if they use Google devices), your recipient can set up lights that turn on and dim by voice command, play podcasts and music, ask the machine for the weather or the meaning of life, and issue a slew of other useful orders.

Giving someone a watch for graduation is a classic idea for a reason: It’s a sophisticated accessory they can wear to work, and the relentless passage of time is now vital for them to track. The smartwatch has gone from futuristic to omnipresent, and a smartwatch that syncs to their phone is an even more useful gift for this brave new world. A smartwatch not only tells time but can also show the wearer who’s calling or texting, track their fitness, and control their other smart-home devices. For iPhone owners, we recommend the Apple Watch Series 8; for Android users, we recommend the Samsung Galaxy Watch5.

Part of being a real adult is being informed on what’s going on in the world: Your graduate needs a subscription to a reputable daily paper (a paper of record, if you will). You can’t go wrong with a subscription to The Times; The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post would also be great bets.

Vacuuming an apartment is low on the list of adulthood stresses but very high on the list of annoying chores. Therefore, an excellent gift for your grad would be a gizmo that zooms around the floor doing the job for them. We’ve spent years testing dozens of robot vacuums, and the best for the task is the Wi-Fi–enabled iRobot Roomba i3 EVO. It’s more durable than similar bots from other brands and better at sucking up debris, and it has the navigation chops to generally avoid getting lost or stuck. A slightly less expensive model, the Roomba 694, is available, but the Roomba i3 EVO enables remote control from a smartphone app, scheduling, and integration with some popular smart-home voice assistants.

As your graduate leaps from the comforts of their campus into the cold reality of the working world, they will need all the coziness and comfort they can get. We love the 12-pound Baloo Weighted Blanket, one of our favorites out of the 16 we tested. Soft and sturdy, it feels like a combination of a quilt and a comforter. It’s one of the only machine-washable blankets we recommend, and it comes with a lifetime guarantee on materials and workmanship.

We love finding gifts that are unusual, thoughtful, and well vetted. See even more gift ideas we recommend.