My friend's birthday is coming up and I'm wondering if I should buy her a gift. I've only known her for 3 months since I started college but we've become good friends. I was thinking of buying her a gift with another friend so we can split the cost. However, I'm not sure if I should go that far since she only gave me a hand-made card for my birthday... granted that at that time, she'd only known me for a week... what do you guys think?
Yes. It's always nice to give gifts, it brings smile to people's face, especially if it's your friend. I would suggest something simple, like gift card (if appropriate for your country) maybe for coffee shop, maybe something funny that involve inside joke, and don't forget the card (some people think it's a waist of money, but if u right something funny or nice inside it can make somebody's day).
You should reciprocate in kind. At least get her a card and, surely, if you have any particular talents or crafts then you should make her something. But there is a difference between one week and three months so you should evaluate how "good" the friendship is and perhaps kick it up a notch, so to speak. While I did say reciprocate in kind, you should also remember that gift-giving isn't tit-for-tat so you can get her something nicer. However, nice doesn't necessarily mean expensive. You can think of something creative. If you two are in college then there are plenty of gadgets and bric-a-brac available for dorm rooms and/or studying which would not be costly but would be useful. Really, you just need to evaluate the friendship and the person. If she is the kind of person to give you a hand-made card then she probably isn't the kind of person to get hung-up on the gift you give her; rather she will probably appreciate the gesture more. So, to conclude, don't sweat it too much and think of it as more of an intuitive task rather than a rigorous and demanding one.