(1) Good small talk is usually personal, in the sense that it's about the people talking. "I'm a morning person" is not inherently more interesting than "What a nice day!", but it creates a stronger bond between the people talking.
(2) Think of the conversation as an exchange of information: you're telling each other things about yourselves. If you just ask questions and don't volunteer anything about yourself, you seem creepy; if you only talk about yourself, you seem like an egotist. If in doubt, try to get her talking about herself more than you're talking about yourself, but not by too much.
(3) Don't try to show off your knowledge. It's good to be insightful or witty, and it's fine to introduce a relevant fact if it moves the conversation along. But in a casual conversation, people are not looking to be impressed by your knowledge of e.g. their major or yours.
(4) If the conversation stalls out, ask a very general question: something like "Are you having a good day?" or "Looking forward to the weekend?" or "How are your classes going?" This makes it easy for them to find a subject they're comfortable discussing. If someone replies to a question like this in a closed-off way, like "Yup" or "Fine," they're signalling that they don't want to continue the conversation. You can smile and say "Cool" and let it drop without any embarrassment. Not everyone likes talking to strangers, and everyone is sometimes in the mood to be alone with their thoughts.
(2) Think of the conversation as an exchange of information: you're telling each other things about yourselves. If you just ask questions and don't volunteer anything about yourself, you seem creepy; if you only talk about yourself, you seem like an egotist. If in doubt, try to get her talking about herself more than you're talking about yourself, but not by too much.
(3) Don't try to show off your knowledge. It's good to be insightful or witty, and it's fine to introduce a relevant fact if it moves the conversation along. But in a casual conversation, people are not looking to be impressed by your knowledge of e.g. their major or yours.
(4) If the conversation stalls out, ask a very general question: something like "Are you having a good day?" or "Looking forward to the weekend?" or "How are your classes going?" This makes it easy for them to find a subject they're comfortable discussing. If someone replies to a question like this in a closed-off way, like "Yup" or "Fine," they're signalling that they don't want to continue the conversation. You can smile and say "Cool" and let it drop without any embarrassment. Not everyone likes talking to strangers, and everyone is sometimes in the mood to be alone with their thoughts.