Pinterest and College Planning?

Are you hooked on Pinterest yet? I am! I must admit I have been swept up in the Pinterest craze like a lot of my friends and colleagues and have spent many a recent evening here in Boulder collecting ideas for crafts, recipes, decorating ideas and much more.
For those of you unfamiliar with Pinterest it is touted as an “online pinboard where you can organize and share things you love.”
So, I started thinking. Since higher education has become completely intertwined with all of the other social networking sites out there (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, etc) is Pinterest next? I decided to take a look to see what I could find that would be helpful to our high school students and their parents in their planning for college. Here are a few thoughts.
1) Type in the word “dorm” and what will you find? Plenty! Lots of creative ideas for how to decorate and organize your future dorm room (or residence hall as us higher education folks like to call them).
2) Interested in Greek Life? Type in a sorority or fraternity name and you will find tons of Greek letter memorabilia and images to get you excited about rush.
3) Looking at a particular college? Type in the name to see pictures from campus, books related to the college, and much more. Or go a step further and type in the city name or location of the college to see images and information related to that region.
4) Parents, are you planning a graduation party for your senior? Type in “Graduation” and you see everything from graduation themed cupcakes to inspiring quotations to pass on to your future graduate.
5) Wondering how you will keep track of your schedule in college? Looking for creative and eye catching time management tools? Type in “calendar” to find great ideas to organize your schedule from chalkboard calendars to calendars made with recycled buttons.
The possibilities are endless! Give it a try…and watch out, it’s addicting!
Mark Montgomery
Expert Educational Consultant