Guide To Picking The Right Clubs In College

We look at the best types of clubs you can join during your college career in 2024

A college club is an organization run by students within a college or university that focuses on a specific interest, hobby, cause, or activity. These clubs provide students with the opportunity to come together with others who share similar interests.

Before we get into the topic, if you’re thinking of starting your own club, or helping run a club, give embolt.app a try. We’re the Shopify/Discord of clubs, making it easy to manage club members and accept dues that you can fund events & activities with; no bank account required and free to get started.

If you’re not convinced that joining a club is important in your college career, checkout our article which lists five good reasons to consider joining one:

If you made it this far you’re probably convinced at least a little that joining a club can be beneficial, so let’s start by breaking down the most common types of clubs that you’ll probably see:

1. Academic Clubs: These clubs focus on specific academic disciplines, such as biology, economics, or literature. They often host guest speakers, organize academic competitions, and provide opportunities for research or discussion within the field.

2. Professional Development Clubs: Clubs related to your desired career field can provide networking opportunities, career advice, and skill-building workshops. Examples include business clubs, engineering societies, or pre-med organizations.

3. Cultural and Identity-Based Clubs: These clubs celebrate diversity and provide a supportive community for students from various cultural backgrounds or identities. Examples include multicultural clubs, LGBTQ+ organizations, or international student associations.

4. Arts and Performance Clubs: If you have a passion for the arts, consider joining clubs focused on music, theater, dance, or visual arts. These clubs often organize performances, exhibitions, workshops, and social events.

5. Service and Advocacy Clubs: Clubs dedicated to community service, social justice, or environmental activism provide opportunities to make a positive impact. Get involved in volunteer projects, advocacy campaigns, or fundraising efforts to address important issues.

6. Recreational and Sports Clubs: Stay active and have fun by joining recreational sports clubs or intramural teams. Whether you enjoy soccer, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, or martial arts, there's likely a club for you to participate in.

7. Hobby and Special Interest Clubs: Explore your interests outside of academics by joining clubs dedicated to hobbies like photography, gaming, cooking, or outdoor activities. These clubs offer opportunities to meet like-minded peers and pursue shared interests.

Picking Clubs Right For You

Unless you’ve figured out cloning at the time you’re reading this article, you likely can’t be apart of every type of club while also balancing school, work and personal life. Joining too many clubs can also be costly, as some clubs will charge member dues so they can fund hosted events and purchase club equipment.

Picking the right club really comes down to your interests and goals during college, in the next section we’ll try to categorize clubs under common interests & goals that people come into college with.

You Are Career Driven

If you’re passion lies in your work, and you want to be the best at what you do, often times your network is just as important (if not more important) than your skills. The types of clubs you’d be interested in focus on professional growth and networking

• Professional Development Clubs: Undoubtedly one of the best ways to start out your professional network before even graduating. Friends and connections made here can pay dividends over the course of your career.

• Service and Advocacy Clubs: These are great resume items that show your commitment and give employers the confidence that they’re hiring a likely empathetic person.

• Recreational and Sports Clubs: Don’t discount the importance of making friends outside of your industry, sports clubs often have motivated individuals from a diverse background that can give you unique opportunities.

You Want to Change the World

If the impact you have on this world is a big part of your goals in life, you should hone your talents and gain experience in running successful advocacy groups.

• Service and Advocacy Clubs: You’ll make a direct impact on your community here, and often gain experience in how to run advocacy organizations for after graduation.

• Hobby and Special Interest Clubs: Helping foster a community for a special interest or hobby is a great way facilitate change and bring people together.

• Academic Clubs: These clubs allow you to explore exciting topics on the bleeding edge of your research interests, and they can be a great way to pursue an academic career.

You Want Lifelong Friends & Connections

If the opportunity to make lifelong friends is a big focus in your time at college, consider joining clubs that focus on less career-oriented interests

• Arts and Performance Clubs: While this can still be a career-oriented interest, you’ll still meet a lot of great people that you can stay connected with after graduation.

• Recreational and Sports Clubs: Sports and recreational clubs are one of the best ways to meet lifelong friends and create great experiences with events & trips. Whether you’re doing D1 soccer or rock climbing, the communities often stick together even after graduation.

• Hobby and Special Interest Clubs: Just like sports and recreational clubs, hobby and special interest clubs are great topics to meet lifelong friends.

You Want To Find Yourself

If discovering yourself and understanding more about the world are your priorities, consider clubs that focus on culture, identity, and advocacy. These clubs can expand your views on the world and help you better connect with your identity

• Cultural and Identity-Based Clubs Learning more about your own culture or identity can be a great place to meet not only your own community but also widen your views.

• Service and Advocacy Clubs These clubs can be exceptional ways to widen your world view and learn about struggling communities or positive initiatives in the world.

• Academic Clubs Clubs focused around psychology or sociology can for example be great ways to gain a deeper understanding of the world around you.

Conclusion

There’s no one-size fits all answer for joining a club, but we went through what clubs you might enjoy most based on some common interests going into college.

If you ever end up starting a club or want to find better ways to run a club, give embolt.app a try and we’ll make it worth your time. Starting a new club on embolt today is as easy as:

1. Signup at https://embolt.app/onboard/accounts

2. Link your PayPal

3. Create a membership form, set a price and duration

4. Share your hub with members and manage everything with our admin panel