I have a DS who is a first year student at university and he's come back home for a bit.
He's always been shy growing up and I'd see him more as a "nerdy boy" than a "laddy lad".
He's at uni in halls but doesn't live too far from home. He's made good friends at uni but he's admitted to me now that he doesn't really enjoy the whole "party party" culture. He doesn't like alcohol or drinking anymore because it makes him feel like an emotional mess.
He doesn't like going clubbing because it just reminds him he's never kissed a girl before. Also it brings back a bad memory from year 13. He got teased because a girl he had had a big big crush on "got with" another boy in the year after a party they were all at. And that hurt a lot. He got over it in a few weeks but finds now that if he drinks he starts thinking about it all over again and it hurts. DS was really embarrassed to admit to me he once saw this "other boy" on a night out in the club and then went to the bathroom and cried.
DS feels like he's being pathetic and he shouldn't be upset about these things. But it bothers him a lot that he's never had a single shred of success with girls. No girl has ever shown romantic interest in him and he can't get those thoughts out of his head. He tells "I shouldn't be upset over this anymore mum. It's so silly to get sad about this."
But this does bother him. My advice has been that he doesn't have to go clubbing and to bars anymore. He can do many of the activities at university that don't revolve around drinking. He's gotten into table tennis recently. As for the advice with girls I've told him that he'd be happier meeting someone naturally and having a relationship build than just having a random hookup on a night out.