I'd just like to add in my thoughts on my experiences with my first year in Judo. I agree with most of what Nage Waza said but I will add that while competition is very important to the philosophy and practice of Judo, I wouldn't want someone to get the impression that you have to compete deter them from giving it a shot.
I have learned a ton in my first year. Every day there is something new to learn, something to improve upon. The skills that you get from Judo will also help to influence techniques in other things that you do. Because of how you will end up falling, approximately 8 billion times, you have to get good at falling and rolling. My doctor told me a story where his Judo training saved him from injury when he got hit by a car.
The culture at the Judo club that I am at and the nature of the sport itself is pretty social due to the fact that you are constantly doing exercises, drills, training and sparring with a partner. You get to meet a lot of different people when you aren't just standing in a line throwing fists (which I used to do in Karate). It also means that the learning process is slightly different from other martial arts. You will often learn more from talking to people of higher rank and learning from them than you will through any sensei lead training sessions.
Intense training I can attest to as well. There hasn't been a Judo session where I haven't been bruised, injured or just dog tired. I have been injured more times in my first year of Judo than my entire life. Yet, I have still come back every single time.
The training is intense, the sport is fun, the martial art is easy to learn but hard to master and it uses your entire body. You learn how to fight on your feet, on the ground and how to be efficient. The Karate classes I took as a kid had nothing on Judo.
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