I went to a big UK university, so I think I've got a few ideas for ya:
First of all, you are right, it is all about social circle stuff. This means you've gotta actually make yourself a cool guy. (This seems to be all I ever say. Eventually people are going to get bored of me saying this). You actually have to work on your personality - make yourself funnier, more dominant, more confidant, because you will be seeing these girls a lot.
However, believe me when I say that all the most successful guys I met at uni, met girls though social circles, and just met random girls in clubs/bars etc. And the most successful guys I hung out with, got rejected
loads. Sometimes it was ridiculous just how much they got rejected. And yet they still pulled the hottest girls, and loads of them.
So the way to be able to do this without becoming a creepy guy, and like you say, shitting where you eat, is the following:
1. become that awesome guy above.
2. be sexual with people even when you aren't hitting on girls. For example, I used to joke with some of my close female friends who I never hooked up with all the time. I'd have no problem telling one of my friends "Hey sarah, you look fucking hot tonight. You're going to be getting a million guys hit on you, we're not going to see you all night!". Or when you are in the bar talking to your group, put your hand on a girls shoulder for a little longer than usual and just let it rest while you are talking. Be really touchy, but not creepy or lecherous.
3. Also openly talk about sex, how hot that girl was that just walked past, how hot your lecturer is, or whatever, to your friends (guys and girls). Be a sexual guy. But act like it isn't a big deal. Obviously do this with balance, don't talk about sex all the time or you're bordering on sex-pest territory!
Do all of that.
then 4. go and directly hit on girls you want to meet in the club. If it doesn't go anywhere, don't worry about it. If you get called on approaching 10 girls in a night, just smile, shrug, and say "of course, did you see her, she was fucking smoking hot! She wasn't interested in me though, ah well, doesn't matter, I got a really hot chicks number yesterday and she's been texting me all day wanting to meet up, so we're golden. Hows your dating life going?"
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So that's the practical bit. The only other advice I've got for ya is that college/uni has this reputation for being "really easy" to get laid in.
In reality, it's exactly the same as getting laid in the real world. In the real world, picking up chicks is - and always will be - somewhat of a numbers game. You can never predict what a girls reaction to you will be. If she's really upset because she just got fired, then noone is picking her up that night. In college/uni, it's exactly the same. It's still a numbers game, you will still get a lot less than 50% of the girls you hit on. The difference is that there are tens of thousands of hot girls that you find attractive in the same small area and social groups. Which means meeting them and going through the inevitable numbers game can be really quick, and you can get laid a ridiculous amount with really hot girls.
That's my 2cents. Go forth and have fun
