Yocket launched a new feature available on the Yocket Android and iOS apps in August 2018 called Group chats. You can use group chats to connect with other Yocket users who have anything in common with you! Anything that you may find relevant to your study abroad journey, of course! It could be as general as going to the same university, or GRE Prep or even as detailed as to help in finding ‘Girl Roommates in Boston for 2019’.This feature is a better alternative to International Students Whatsapp groups. Yocket groups provide you with latest, relevant and factual information for your study abroad needs. Literally, ANYTHING!!
This article will help you get a clearer picture of Yocket Groups, and how to use them.
How do I join the group chats?
There are multiple ways to join a Yocket group -
1. Direct Search:
Go to the ‘Groups & Chats’ section on the Yocket app. Enter the name of your university in the ‘Find Group’ bar.(Tip: Enter the full name or short form of the university, like Northeastern or NEU). A list of university groups will be displayed, like this
Screenshots of Android and iOS apps, showing search results page
2. Mark As Interested:
Navigate to the University’s Review page(for Android and website only). Mark it as ‘Interested’ by clicking on the star icon. For iOS, add Interested Universities by going to your profile.
Screenshots of Android and iOS apps, showing how to mark university as ‘Interested’
You are then automatically added to the University’s group. Similarly, if you mark the University as ‘Admit’, you will be added to the Admits group on Yocket.
3. Direct URL:
You can also join a group directly via a link. The link can be generated on the app by a member of the group. (read till the end for a surprise)
4. University Reviews:
Another way of joining the group, is by clicking the link given at the end of the University’s review page on our website. We are working on providing this link on our mobile app soon!
Screenshot of website, showing Yocket Group link on Northeastern University’s review page
5. Create your own
You can also create groups of your own too! Yocket has some official groups, but we cannot fathom to cover every type of commonality that might exist between users. So we encourage you to create groups of your own to improve networking! Coming soon to iOS.
Screenshot of Android, showing new user group create page
If you can’t find the groups you are looking for and need our help - https://support.yocket.com/portal/en/home. Our doors are always open to answer your queries!
How many types of Yocket chat groups exist?
There are three types of groups:
- Official groups (Interested)
i.e. the ones created by Yocket. They appear directly when you mark a course as interested.
How to identify them: orange ring around the group logo.
- Official groups(Admit)
i.e. the groups you get automatically added to once you change your application status to ‘admit’.
How to identify them: orange ring around the group logo and a green tick.
- User created groups
i.e. the ones created by users. You can use these groups to connect people who do not fit into a particular pre-existing group. You can connect with people from a particular city, or those who have been wait-listed by a university, etc. As mentioned, ANYTHING in common! The limitation here is that you can create upto 10 personal groups!
You can join any of the groups using any of the specified methods. In the future, we are planning to integrate official group chats with university officials and representatives, so keep an eye out for official groups!
Why should I use Yocket Groups?
Yocket groups have many advantages, such as:
- Networking: You get to speak to your peers, other students, seniors, students currently studying at the university, etc. You can grow your network which can always be helpful, especially when you’re going to shift you entire life to a new country! Make use of this collective knowledge that you’re receiving. Even if you’re not an active participant in the conversation, the information you gain may be useful to you some other time!
- Safety and Privacy: You can read about some privacy concerns here (https://yocket.com/blog/why-whatsapp-groups-are-more-harmful-than-they-are-helpful-for-ms-aspirants ).
The advantage of using Yocket groups is that they are completely safe and private. No other user can see your details, except your username. The only means of communication that would exist are either through Yocket groups or through Yocket personal chats. All your data is secure with us.
One more important feature is Reporting Spam. You can report spam messages and users. If we find them irrelevant or unethical, our team deletes them from the back-end.
You can report spams messages by long pressing the message, or by swiping right or left on the message. Other options (such as copy, reply, and open profile(on iOS). You can open profile on Android by clicking on the user’s name).
URL and information sharing:
There is a lot of information that needs to be acquired and a lot of planning to be one before shifting to another country, or even while planning to do so. You may even have doubts and queries. Having a single platform to go to, to contact seniors, ask queries, interact with similar students, etc. is a huge advantage as a student. Also, you can share and receive necessary URLs.
I’m sure you’re convinced by now!!
Also,
Surprise!
We’ve created a group specially for users, like you, to give us feedback first hand. Join it here.
