Hey seddit, for those of you who think "looks matter", this is for you. You are partially correct; hear me out.

BTW, I'm a 20 year old college student at an engineering school..

I am shorter than average and would consider myself average looking. For the past month I didn't have time to work out and have gained a bit of weight. BUT heres some of the changes I've made in mylife and what the results were..

1) Dress

I've suscribed to MFA and got a few tips on fashion. I went to Express and bought several fitted shirts (the long sleeve one that you roll up to your arms) and jeans (not the tight skinny jeans.. but fitting jeans.. I used to wear very loose "mom" jeans). Also, I bought Sperrys. Not everyone has to adopt a preppy look.. go with what you can pull off.. Preppy Indian works for me..

2) Hair

I used to have really messy, untidy hair. I went to a regular place (Great Clips) and got a haircut from one of those style guides they have. I previously just cut my hair short and let it grow long before cutting it again. This would give me the "creeper" look. I changed that shit.

3) More sociable, and do more hobbies.

Hang out with your friends more. Take time off and do some fun stuff. This will lighten your mood and indirectly give you a pleasant vibe. When you see a girl in the coffee shop you will easily be able to think of stuff to say to her when you are in a good mood already.

4) Talk.

I don't know if this is acceptable in your culture but in the South, striking conversation with strangers is totally normal. Stay relaxed and chat up people around you when you are at a bus stop etc. This will build up your confidence and keep your mood pleasant and indirectly give you a positive vibe. Keep dark, negative stuff out of your conversation. Be energetic when you converse with people (not too energetic, but give a positive vibe).

5) Abundance mentality

Don't fret over one girl. Just don't. I used to think "abundance mentality" was a BS PUA term. From first hand experience I can tell you its not.. Have the laid back mentality.. if you mess up with one girl, there are plenty of other fish in the sea (don't forget I go to an engineering school.. you have no excuse).

After doing the above mentioned, here are the results: 1) When I smile at a girl, she always smiles back pleasantly. Even if I don't continue the convo, it still makes me feel better 2) I saw this cute girl at the bus stop and decided fuck it lets try.. "Hey did you go to my school? You look familiar..." "No, I'm from a different country" "Oh.. okay.. continues.. We ended up chatting on the bus and exchanged numbers when we split. She laughed at a lot of the things that I said which I thought weren't really funny at all. I didn't pursue further because she was a grad student (I'm undergrad). That was just one example of how my life has started changing. I don't need to try as hard to have a convo with girls I'm interested in. I sense that they are trying harder to talk to me as well. Right now I'm not interested in hooking up or even a relationship (Heavy courseload). I'm basically getting these simple results w.o trying that hard. Who knows what will happen when I actually step it up a little bit..Don't forget: I'm an average looking dude who just dresses well.

TLDR: What I'm trying to get at is that looks don't matter, confidence does. That is easier said than done. You have to do things to build up your confidence (at least I do.. I'm not a good pretender). The things I mentioned above help me with my confidence.. Those little things make a noticable difference. Just wanted to share my 2cents. Have a nice day!