I wonder if it would help if you met someone you knew who was also SA online in a public, but NOT populated, setting like a very small park, or even outside in your backyard or something? I know how annoying it can be to get outside too. Just last night my wife and I took a walk and I always hate how naked you appear to be to cars who are passing by and just get to gawk at you for as long as they want. I always give them a nasty look if it appears as if they are staring, but my anxiety is still there even though it is not that horrible. I have had drunk retards honk and yell at me when I was running at night before so this is why I expect every sh*thead to honk and yell at me. I know that they have the capacity to do so which is why I greatly dislike most people.
Anyway, sorry for ranting on your post. I would encourage you to find an isolated location where you know that, most of the time, no one is there, and maybe read a book. It will encourage you to look forward to getting "lost" at that place, it will be outside, and it will break the ice of your stress of being outside in public.
Also, there are online therapists available for consultation, and even phone therapists available. If you do your research you will find that in-person isn't the only way and many different methods can be effective. Furthermore, you can take your time dealing with your stress by getting comfortable with the other methods before the in-person method which will boost your confidence in the ideal of situations.
Also, unless you plan on living on the very social dorms I would suggest finding a studio apartment that is pretty close to campus. It would allow you to study and keep your sanity, not to mention get your valuable rest.
As far as opening up, I think that there is a sequence with it as well. You build confidence opening up on smaller scales in direct synergy with your comfort level. For example, you opened up on here and can interact easily with us online. The next thing you would find is a situation where you feel that maybe you can be comfortable opening up but are still a little uneasy about it. Perhaps talking to someone on the phone would be your next scenario, or doing a live chat with someone?
It is all dependent upon your own social comfort level. You would make sure your confidence level increases that the lower level before moving to the next situation. After the phone, then maybe you could do a webcam chat with someone where you both were able to observe each others mannerisms and hear each others voices at the same time. Then, to find a good and safe vehicle into an in-person meeting, you can meet someone who lives fairly close to you and meet with them in a private setting. After this gets comfortable you can proceed to slightly more populated settings. After you are comfortable with that one person in a pretty populated setting, you can add other people in the mix. Now this is where I think that you can take even more "baby" steps. You wouldn't jump right into a conversation, you would first make eye contact and smile then look away. Now, some people may look right away after you get eye contact, or they may not respond, or may even frown, but that shouldn't affect your goal. Your goal would be to simply look at someone in the eyes, smile at them (or nod), then look away.
After you got comfortable doing that, then you would get eye contact, smile (or nod) and simply say the Greeting of "Hi" then look (or run) away. lol I know that this may seem a bit nerve racking but you have already had plenty of experience building up to that point so you can always go back to the previous method to build up more confidence before moving to the "Hi" stage.
After that then you add more words. "Hi, how are you? Hi, nice day isn't it? Hi, I like your sweater. Hi, do you have the time?" etc Then usually there is a "closer" like "Bye. Have a good day. See ya. Thank you" etc. Between your Greeting and "closer" you can add however many "fillers" you want. "Did you see that game? Do you read" Do you have a favorite author? What are you reading? Are you enjoying your food? How is your day going? Who does your hair? Where did you get that necklace?" etc. At this point, the other person should be investing in the conversation or not. It is as simple as that. It is in your control, you can invest more or less into the conversation and end it at any time, but so can the other person, so you must be prepared for that too.
Anyway, these steps are something that I learned while doing door-to-door sales. They are part of the "five steps to a conversation." 1) Greeting (Hi, Hello, Hola, Buon Giorno lol) 2) Introduction (Did you see that game?) 3) Present the Product (The Bulls won by 40, it was awesome!) 4) Closer (I think that the highlights are on later tonight if you want to catch them) 5) Rehash (Did you think Michael Jordan was the most important player for them or what?)
The main thing to remember with the "Closer" is that you have a point in the conversation and the main point was to get the person to watch how badly the Bulls crushed their opponent. The Rehash is repeating what your conversation was about but using a different aspect of it in order to keep an interested person talking.
Also, you don't have to stop with one circuit of the five steps in the conversation, or even go in that order, most people don't anyway, but it is definitely a guide. You can go through steps three and five multiples times in one conversation before you say "bye." This is what you find most people doing when they are deep in a conversation.
Interest level is kept and maintained through the "Impulse Factors." They are built on an acronym FUGI. F is fear of loss. " I think that this is the last day they are doing this sale." Or "if I don't tell you this it is going to be too late."
U is sense of urgency. You pretty much act like you are in a hurry and have a deadline to say everything and you are running behind.
G is greed. "Everyone is talking about how MJ is leaving a lot of money to some random person, did you hear?" "I was stopped like a hundred times by random people saying the craziest thing about you, they said ________" If you say, EVERYONE is doing or getting something then it usually catches people's attention. It is just like Black Friday. lol
Finally, I is indifference. You pretty much act like you could care less about something and are almost bored. You have really got to NOT CARE though or it won't work. "I guess my house is getting repossessed or something. I don't know. I forgot what he said, like, three hours to live. I was a little distracted at the time. *trailing off*" A lot of people become interesting when they are careless at something that would make a normal person go insane.
Anyway, hope this helps.