I can honestly relate a bit here. While in college I never really interacted much with people so I never made many friends. Sure I had the passing conversations and whatnot but nothing that stuck around.

But I know that feeling of not wanting to interact with others. Many people I ran into during college didn't strike me as people I would want to talk to either because of heir personalities or lack of shared interests.

And while I don't see the problem with not interacting with others in college, having basic social skills are needed to get a job and get through life (as others in this thread have said).

Having been on a large campus I found making friends and working with colleagues happened the same way as it did during primary and secondary schools day , some through general day today interaction, others through shared interests. some by happenstance.
My advice join a club that you are truly interested in it might give you a basis for some socialising as well as being educational, let people into your interests and start noticing which people you find OK .
You do have to put something of your self out there and maybe shrink the personal shield by a few yards and don't be so defensive , that doesn't mean trying to fit in with every one and being every ones best friend.

No offense, but you're going to have a serious problem moving up in any job with poor social skills. Unless you plan on making a living in your room watching TV and playing video games, you need to be social. No one is going to give anyone a job or promotion if they don't like you, no matter how good you are at your job.

If you're social skills are really so bad that it's given you a reputation in your school bad enough to make most other people transfer, you seriously need to fix something about yourself. Human beings are social creatures. Social skills are a critical aspect of human life. Maybe you think having friends is beneath you or something, but if you want to be successful, you're frankly going to have to get over it. You're not going to be able to live a happy life if you have poor social skills. They are necessary for everything from making money to reproducing.

As a person in a technical capacity, being able to communicate with people effectively in a social environment is very important. You can know your material backwards and forwards, but if you can't effectively communicate that to people, you are all but useless. These soft skills open up doors for you as well.

The problem with onmitting the social aspect of your education and concentrating purely on excelling academically is that social relations are a part of life and modern society. One of the most important ones in fact.
Most jobs these days rely on teamwork and communication and its no diffrent in the sciences.

If you want to lead a lab, for example, you have to learn how to communicate with people, be firm, yet diplomatic and not anger them. You don't have to like them or their hobbies or whatever they do, but you do have to learn how to deal with all kinds of diffrent people.
A superb way to do that is to become frinds with all sorts of people. Of course you should not feel the need to be someone other than yourself when you are around them, thats why people are friends with people they are comfortable being around for the most part.

You talk about social circles an herachy. Maybe my experiences are vastly diffrent from yours, but to me, socializing and making friends has never been about that. Sometimes you just click with someone and have fun toghether. It's that simple. Don't do anything you feel uncomfortable with.

If you don't like going out partiyng, then don't. Doesn't mean you can't be friends with someone who enjoys it as long as you two respect each others opinions and boundaries, it's fine. No need to please people. Just give to people what you demand from them. If you respect someone, they have a chance to respect you back.
And I'm sure there's someone at your school that would love to watch movies and play videogames with you and have a blast.

Also you say you're blunt with people. No problem with that on it's own and some people need some bluntness once in a while, but in some situations you'll get way further, by not antagonizing the other person but by being diplomatic and always leaving the channel of communication open. A good way to practice that is to have people you care enough about that you don't want to hurt them. Again, friends.

If you don't want anything to with all that and prefer to be on your own, that's fine too. Just be aware that there is learning expieriences and skillsets you're missing out on that can make your life much easier down the line.

Education should be primary, however, socializing is absolutely an integral part of growing up. Learning how to appropriately engage with the outside world is something you don't just automatically 'get'.

In the marketplace social skills counts a lot, and network is always usefull... so learning how to socialize in school is also important. I should have done it more while I was there.

To a degree. I do have friends/ colleagues that helped me see topics from another perspective, provide me with criticism to improve my writing, even got some connections in other areas of work. Besides there are a lot of ladies you can meet in post secondary lol.

You don't have to necessarily make friends but as others have pointed out communication is a big aspect of life.

Thank's for the replies guys. I am not a misanthrope, actually I have tons of friends online! Facebook, Reading Clubs, Indie Music and self-improvement.

My problem is socializing with people in real life in an institution-school and college- where you need to interact constantly with them. Especially since both of the schools I attended where small. I can put my social mask but not all the time as its required. The most frustrating aspect of social skills on an institution is that I am getting penalized for what I do and for what I DON'T do.

For instance, some people want to talk to me in Spanish-my natiive language. However, If I talk to them in Spanish they get offended as they tend to think I am showing off. On the other hand, if I don't they get angry since they tend to think I am too good to talk to them. I have hundreds of examples like this, but it always seems like I end up rubbing people the wrong way.