Students — Groups & Search#

A short guide for students using the Phase 2 group surface and the new global search.

Who this is for: verified students. Most flows here also work for alumni, faculty, and staff; this page covers the bits that matter most to students.

Joining interest groups#

Students can join public and institute-visibility groups. alumni-only groups are off-limits even if you can see them in search results. Open /app/groups, browse the All or Recommended tab, click into a group, and Join.

You can create your own interest group at /app/groups/new — you become its admin. See the alumni guide for the full create flow; the rules are identical.

Search#

The global search box is in the top bar. It searches across people, posts, jobs, groups, events, announcements, and marketplace deals — but the audience filter is enforced server-side, so you only see hits scoped to your role and memberships. For example, a private group post is invisible even if it matches the query.

/app/search?q=... is the dedicated results page. Filter by surface to narrow.

Recommendations on home#

Three rails on /app home: People you might know, Groups for you, Events you might like. Each card has a Why? tooltip — open it to understand which signal produced the recommendation. There is no ML model behind this; the score is a transparent weighted sum.

Common issues#

• “My friend can see a chapter group I can’t” — chapters are usually alumni-visibility. Students can see public chapters but not alumni-only ones.
• “I want recommendations for the marketplace surface” — marketplace deals get a dedicated Deals for you rail on /app/marketplace, not on the home page.