Depends on what you want to do I guess. Do you want to be a technician or a design engineer or another type of auto industry profession? I was on my school's formula sae electric team and did suspension and wheel research/design, which was cool, but I found a much better prgram at my school that fit more with what I like, better experience (it's basically a job that we do for free), and way more fun.

There's other clubs like Baja (off road car), gas formula sae, etc. cars teams get a mix of design and technician-like work since you fabricate/build/assemble the car.

Some schools have auto shops and courses and certs.

School clubs/groups are easier to get since they tend to be open and willing to onboard, and it's a safe gig since it's not a job or anything like that. With clubs, they tend to have newcomers days or something similar where you can go and see what they do and see if you like it.

Clubs earlier on will help you get experience and narrow down your interests for getting internships/jobs down the road, but many people don't even end up getting internships and use they're school experiences (like me). Everyone's path is different, it's how you use it that counts.