in my first three years of college i spoke to maybe ten students, pretty much all of them because we were assigned a team project together. only one guy talked to me because we were sitting next to each other at the same class and i started a few short-lived conversations with whoever was next to me before exams if the teacher was taking too long to come.
besides that, many people (almost everyone it seems) came into the college as friend groups from high school. they spoke to each other, but you're not within that friend group and it feels awkward to butt in a conversation where everyone's already highschool friends and you're a stranger.