Since May 2011, visitors to Pinterest have increased by 2, 702.2% and with over a million visitors every single day, it’s an excellent source for information. If you’re not using Pinterest during the college prep process, you’re neglecting a valuable tool.

Pinterest’s search tool allows you to organize articles and all kinds of information by creating boards for each topic. It’s one way to keep all your resources in one place and revisit when you need to reread the information or delve deeper.

Here are just a few ways you can use Pinterest for college prep:

Use it to keep information organized

As a parent, you’re invested in helping your student along this journey. Along the way you will be searching for all types of information about college visits, financial aid, choosing the right college, standardized testing and college applications. You can use Pinterest to organize all the information into topic specific boards as you search and learn. When you read an article that is helpful or a blog post, pin it to an appropriate board. How much simpler could that be?

Research colleges

Many colleges are creating accounts of their own (including Yale University, Drake University, University of Michigan and Texas A&M University). Some schools have multiple accounts for different departments and programs. Browsing through a college’s boards is a great way to get a candid look at the campus culture, school traditions, and student involvement. Many colleges are also adding parent-focused boards as well.

Start with some searches

If you haven’t already begun, you’ll need some place to begin; and what better place to start than with a few simple searches. Just as you do with any search engine use it to find boards that interest you and provide you with relevant material.

Here are just a few searches and look at all the information they provide:

http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=scholarships (scholarships)

http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=college%20prep (college prep)

http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=colleges (colleges)

http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=college%20search (college search)

http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=college%20visits (college visits)

Follow some boards (and or people)

Once you’ve set up your categories and begun to get organized, follow some boards. These boards will appear on your home feed as items are pinned and you can choose items to repin onto your boards. Need some help to start? Here are just a few to follow:

Suzanne Shaffer http://www.pinterest.com/suzannemshaffer/

Wendy David-Gaines http://www.pinterest.com/pocsmom

Monica Matthews http://www.pinterest.com/aidscholarship/

Gyan Devi (Scholarship Opportunity) http://www.pinterest.com/gyandevi/

Jodi Okun http://www.pinterest.com/jodiokun/

The amount of information you must assimilate during the college prep process can be overwhelming. Pinterest is another social media tool you can use to gather information. But what makes it unique is that you can organize the information and easily find it when you need it.