Let’s say you’re the guy described in the title. You’re not Chad, but you’re also not an epic loser living in your mom's basement. You had some friends growing up, were solid at a sport or two (or another worthwhile endeavor), and may’ve even had a girlfriend at one point.

Now, you’re still a beta male, but you don’t know that yet because you’re relatively content. You haven’t faced much adversity in life so far, and thus haven’t been forced to study the darker side of society and social dynamics.


Fast forward. You just finished your second year of college, and suddenly you’re struggling big time. You’re the same dude you were in high school – putting up solid grades, down to have a fun time, etc. – but suddenly it feels like there’s a freaking force field between you and everyone else. Hot women especially seem to be on a different planet, like they can’t even see you. What the hell’s going on?

First, let’s examine some basic facts about the campus social hierarchy. But before I begin, three quick caveats: these numbers are just estimates to discuss a larger trend; it doesn’t matter if you exactly agree with them or not. These are also general rules – obviously there will always be some outliers, exceptions, etc. Finally, college is just a metaphor here to describe a society-wide phenomena.

OK, so above the aforementioned composite beta male are:

Alpha males. These guys are on sports teams and in the top fraternities. Some of them are unaffiliated, but have natural game for days and/or arrived on campus with wealth and connections. Let’s say the 80/20 rule is correct and these guys make up 20% of the male student body. The number of truly dominant alphas is probably lower, but entire fraternities can function as alpha units so 20% is realistic.

Attractive women. As we all know, women have inherent value in the sexual marketplace due to childbearing skills, whereas a man’s value is dependent on his status, access to resources, social skills, etc. This fact is on display every time you go out, especially if you’re on a college campus. As an underclassman, think about how different it is when a guy tries to get into a party versus a moderately attractive girl. The women I’m talking about here conservatively compose the top 30% of the female student body. These are 7's and above; girls you would be proud of hooking up with.

High-performing Betas. Here is how a lot of average men get absolutely buried on the social ladder. There is a tier of guys below Chad’s level who are nonetheless doing very well for themselves. These guys may not be Red Pill in the strictest sense, but many of them are hard workers who provide significant value to those around them. These guys might be: editor of the school newspaper, high up in the student government, or leaders of lesser fraternities.

Some of them may have a specific skillset or passion that gives them a ‘lane.’ The filmmaker who gets to work with all the hot actresses on campus, or the guy in Improv club who is unusually funny would be two examples. At my school, it was really competitive to get into our male Acapella group of all things, and those guys slayed. Success and providing value around campus earns you respect, a network, and social proof. These guys aren't all your typical alphas - but they are definitely getting laid. Let’s again be conservative and say that “high-performing betas” compose 15% of the male student body.

Only now do we get to the “normal betas.” Again, at this level we aren’t talking about guys with unusually bad social skills. Many of these guys are fun, like to play club sports, and are just solid all around people. However, without being a clear Alpha or providing obvious value to those around them, watch where the normal beta falls on the social ladder:

(Note: 56% of American undergraduate students are female. To make the math easier, we’ll round down to 55%.)

A 1,000 student college class has 550 women and 450 men. According to our estimates, this gives us:

450 men x .2 = 90 alpha males

550 women x .3 = 165 women who are between “cute” and “bombshell”

450 men x .15 = 67 value-adding betas who have a specific lane

You might be a really cool guy, but if you don’t fall into either of the top two male categories I’ve described above, your ceiling is the 68th overall percentile. As a non-dominant male who doesn’t provide clear value, your best case scenario is to be “a bit above average.”

That is assuming, of course, you’re doing everything you can to work on self-improvement (lifting, dressing well, putting yourself out there and joining clubs, practicing game, etc.) Plenty of betas incorporate these behaviors into their lifestyle, so if you get frustrated and start ordering pizza, playing video games, etc., you can easily slip below the 50th percentile into obscurity.

I’m not suggesting you spend any time over analyzing “who’s cool and who’s not” at school or in society. That’s for fifteen year olds. The point of this post is to get young guys to understand that life is fucking competitive. If you think being a normal nice dude entitles you to success, hot women, and a life vaguely resembling Entourage, you are in for a rude awakening. The numbers just don’t work out that way.

As a man, if you aren’t naturally Alpha and lack a specific skillset you can capitalize on in life, you will have to work very hard to become relevant. This fact is what leads a lot of men into the anger phase. They think, “What the hell? I’m funny, I’m in shape, and I can’t even get a date? This is ridiculous.” However, as a man, you are owed nothing. You must compete, learn to provide value in your own way, and work hard if you want to gain any type of success with women, in your career, or in any other area. Good luck.