Cogito, Cappricio, Ephphata. Primitive tribes or college societies? You can be the judge of that. During Freshers' Week you'll hear all about them and everything else on offer. Moving from stand to stand, students (like sales people) will make a pitch at you to join their societies. With your enthusiasm for life as a college student and the persuasiveness of society auditors, you may find yourself signed up to certain societies, which, in hindsight, will make you wonder what on earth you were thinking about when you joined.
In choosing societies, do check out as many stands as possible, and assess each society in terms of its organisation and on the events it has planned for the year. If a society is heavily subsidised, activities are likely to be more extravagant; however some of the smaller, less well-funded, societies engage in novel activities and, due to their size, are more accessible than larger societies.
To benefit fully from a society you have to know what you want from it. Some students want little more than occasional subsidised parties and the chance to get noticed by their current Venus or Adonis. Others use their participation to gain experience in certain areas, developing hidden talents and abilities which may prove useful when pursuing a career in the future.
Some societies are not the easiest to integrate into, depending on the auditor and organising committee. A beneficial way of overcoming this would be to get involved in organisational and administration aspects of the society, however menial. Some societies travel abroad for competitions and conventions. Auditors are anxious to send as many first years as possible, to develop their experiment. Depending on your level of participation you could be jetting off to Sydney with the debating team or South Africa with the rugby team. If you are career-motivated, your society activities will identify your managerial and organisational ability for future employers. If you are uncertain about joining a society, take a few weeks at the start of term to look into it. Joining a society you already have an established an interest in is a safe option but also consider joining something you've never tried before.
It is unlikely, but in the event of your not finding a society to cater for your interests, you can always set up your own. It is usually a year before the society gets official recognition. If you do well in that year the society is entitled to use college facilities and receive some of the capitation budget the following year.
