The Search for Prospective Students Is About to Change

The way that many colleges connect with prospective applicants is on the verge of an overhaul. Last week, the College Board shared its plans to provide a way for admissions offices to connect with high-school students via mobile app. Starting this fall, the new service, called Connections, will supplement the organization’s existing Student Search Service, which colleges have long used to obtain information about teenagers they wish to recruit. As a result, institutions must soon navigate a new frontier of student engagement. And a nation full of standardized-test takers will have yet another place to hear from colleges — if they choose not to tune them out.