So lately, as a college student, I've been trying to think of good openers/conversation starters to help build some comfort/rapport with classmates. As past history my only results are making a few casual friends at best, I've decided to try the following.

Without too many details, there's a HB9 in my philosophy class that is in the same major as I am - psychology. She approached me a few weeks ago, but often I don't show up early or engage conversation after class. We've done so a few times, but no really good ice-breakers so to speak. Previously, I'd made the mistake going for the n-close too early, and thus needing to rely on text to build comfort which I suck at, big time. So here's my idea.

Engage her after class, a typical "whats up, you got a minute" kind of opener and say "As you know a major goal of psychology is prediction of human behavior. So let's play a little game - assume five facts about someone some one you hardly know, me, and I'll do the same for you, and we'll see who's better at prediction."

I can provide more details about the specific girl, but was wondering about any thoughts on this sort of routine. I'm planning to try it out Friday, the next class I have with her (and the last one before spring break). Could also turn this into a "betting" routine. Thoughts? If it goes well, I could apply this to other targets, using psychology as the basis for it. Maybe a little creepy? Hence, why I post here before just applying it.

A rather sucky way to start a conversation in my opinion. Just say hi and invite her to some party or something. It's college for crying out loud, there's always a party somewhere.

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One of the most useful things you will ever learn about body language.

Yeah, and I regularly have parties, and I've tried NUMEROUS times inviting girls from this school (private school, public one with my regular friends is across the street) and pretty much NEVER have they shown up. My only guess is that they aren't comfortable enough with me or know me well enough to give it a try.

I'm actually having a party this Friday, hence why I'm putting thought into something.

The only problem I see with that is that it's too immediate/direct. This is something you'd open with after a brief 2-3 minute conversation and acknowledging you're both in psychology. Five things is a bit much and would put some pressure on her to come up with a few things. Try maybe three, and be the first to go. Otherwise, this is fun/original and is likely to pique her interest.

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Before she can respect you, you need to respect yourself.

Thanks, FS. Yeah I thought mentioned that her and I have probably had collectively almost ten minutes of conversation so far, small talk get to know ya stuff. But I'd like to present something interesting and original, to help stand out abit and get her coming around outside of class.

Still, the magic rule of threes seems like a good idea.

I ran this idea (with your suggestion, FS) through a female friend of mine and she said it sounds "fun and intriguing".

Also good idea on going first. I also figured that it would open several more threads of conversation than usual, because you can only talk about class/school/majors/where ya from (aka the conversation a stripper makes with you) before mind numbing boredom sets in. I'll try it out tomorrow, and be sure to post the results!

Oh dear. Don't ask females for their opinions on pickup. You might as well be asking an AFC.

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Before she can respect you, you need to respect yourself.

I know man, tell me about it. I used to ask my 26 year old female friend (HB8) for advice, and in a previous topic even YOU pointed out it was terrible. Most women are completely unaware of the differences in their biological attractions, emotional triggers, and logical desires.

So when a girlfriend of mine says "You know, you're being kind of a dick" then I know whatever I'm doing is working.

Applied it today, I think it went pretty well actually. I introduced it as a "psych experiment that only works on people you barely know". I guessed she was 22, been to Spain (two likely to be wrong) and that most if not all of her friends on campus were guys that wanted to sleep with her (which was correct). She guessed I was 22, a local who wanted to get out, and that I generally go out of my way to help people as much as I can (I'm a volunteer EMT, so she was right on that one). So yeah, it sparked a pretty good conversation, gave a bit for a flirty/sexual vibe, and the best part purely by luck -

- as I invited her to my party / n-closed, my HB8 friend showed up and put her arm around me and head on my shoulder. I suppose I should add I came to class early and we sat next to each other and small talked for a good five minutes or so too. I appealed that I'm "mainly just looking to make friends" hoping to ease her guard a bit.

Needless to say, I think I'll give this approach another go in the future. I think it's also a good way of gauging a girl's interest/intentions by what guesses she makes. Even if this ends up being platonic I'm perfectly fine with it, though, so I'd like to hear any other thoughts on this idea. Maybe some better guesses or something. Definitely good advice on me going first though.

Good job. Especially on just looking for friends. Well played.

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Before she can respect you, you need to respect yourself.