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Chop Logic
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I was going to guess Teacher's College, but then I realized that you meant you are an undergrad. Also read on and saw you mentioning art, so are probably in some sort of art program.
More relevant to your inquiry though, it seems like you might just be surrounded by the type of people that you aren't attracted to. Hopefully you'll move on to a different crowd of people once you get out of school (or go to grad school which tends to be a different social scene than under-grad). In the mean time, you might consider trying online dating sites if you haven't already. I don't have any personal experience with that venue, but it seems to allow for you to get to know someone intellectually before committing to meeting with them.
I think that this might just be the nail hit right on the head. When you are young your early relationships are based mainly on looks (there are are a few exceptions of course) because not only have you not learned what type of person you want to be with, but you haven't really figured out what type of person you are.
Looking for something deeper than a physical attraction at the tender age of 21 seems to me to be a sign of maturity. Try not to stress out too much. You could try going to some events for the things you like to do and see if you can meet some people with shared interests.
So, with that in mind, I'll make a suggestion. Given that much of your time is taken up by your art, and you appear to have a desire to not become a hermit artist, are there other hobbies or interests that don't consume you but will offer you opportunities to meet new women that may be more intellectually stimulating to you?
Also, you're 21. When looking at who your friends' sisters and others are dating, realize that many 21 year olds want to fuck, smoke pot, and party. It's often seen as a necessary step in growing up for people (it's not necessary, but many people look at their early to mid-20's as their party stage). If you're not into that, it might be worth looking at women who are a bit older and less focused on living it up.
Just because you want to be in a relationship doesn't mean you should, or have to be in one. The solution is to meet people without the expectation that you'll pursue them romantically, or even just as a hookup. The relationship part will fall naturally if it's meant to be.
As for the finding someone "interesting" part, I frequently run into this problem myself. There are 7 billion people on the planet, though, and I'm sure you'll find someone interesting eventually. Again, it comes down to your mindset. You're going into social situations assuming you're not going to find someone interesting, so you judge them before meeting them.
It sounds as though you want to find someone now, rather than later. Unfortunately, I have found that attitude actually works against me more often than not. You can't find an interesting person on cue, and there is no "timeframe" on whether to decide if you want to go out with a girl or not, so rushing into things with a girl through a hookup isn't a great idea, either.
Likewise, if you're feeling peer pressure or feeling that you should be in a relationship because your career would eventually come in the way or that's what everyone else around you is doing, stop. Thinking, "I have to find a girl now because I won't have the ability to later," is a bad reason to start a relationship with someone. A relationship between you and another human being should not be dictated by what society, or your friends, or whoever else thinks is acceptable.
And heck, maybe you won't meet this person at college. Maybe it'll be in line at the grocery store. You're not going to be able to know or predict when you find that certain someone you want to go out with. By relaxing and taking people as they come, you'll eventually find that person you want to be around.
But man you are in the heart of Manhattan, there are all types of places you can go to meet all types of women. Cheap concerts, all kinds of free yoga classes, (yoga to the people, or just go from one free trial week to another) hell even Barnes and noble. Be creative. And I would advise you to not dismiss the animal side of you either, but that's not your problem, your problem is you are looking for a women of substance in a den of skeezers, skanks, skips and scallywops. Don't judge all women or yourself based on whats around there.
If the president had any real power, he'd be able to live wherever the fuck he wanted.
I think that's what you're saying. If so, I agree with the posters above in that you're simply not finding your "type." When I was in college, there were a couple girls that I found attractive who were occasionally single, but I never had much reason to talk to them, let alone date them, and in hindsight it was only because I was around them a lot. I realized that if I had actually dated these people, we would've gotten bored and broken up. There's nothing wrong with simply avoiding the relationship altogether when you see that that's the case.
You shouldn't date someone "just because it's the thing to do." In a lot of ways, a sexual relationship is basically a friendship where you are intimate. Unlike friends, a relationship's trajectory is towards more closeness, as you do more with family, etc., but there still needs to be that basis of friendship or else you'll not like actually being together. And like most friends, you get along not just because you have some things in common, but because your personalities match up.
There's LOTS of women that I find attractive, physically, but very few that I believe I could be in a satisfying relationship with. It's that way for most people, though, and one element of adulthood is recognizing that just because you can have sex with someone (because you like them physically or they like you) doesn't mean you can have a relationship with them, and that knowing which it is that you're looking for (a light fling or a deep relationship) determines how you look for it.
Speaking of which, you shouldn't be discouraged by the "beautiful woman dates a loser" thing. You see women as attractive, so you're going to be biased towards finding them beautiful. You don't know what they're seeing in reverse, or what they're attracted to, but more importantly, a woman is much more than her looks. A beautiful woman can be smart, witty, into video games and art and creative expression, and a beautiful woman can also be dumb, into Twilight, watch shows you hate and so on. Beauty says nothing about personality -- who's to say that the beautiful women you see paired up with pot-smoking losers aren't also pot-smoking losers? And maybe they like the dumb loser type because it makes them feel better about themselves? The point is, you can't judge other people's relationships on your own criteria because their criteria is different. My girlfriend has a lady friend who's boyfriend is an antisocial nerd and has been asked by her friends "he doesn't seem like he's into any of the things you're into? what do you see in him?" and she said that she has a total crush on him and finds him the most attractive guy ever. That was her criteria for the relationship, and I'm sure when they're home together and talk that they have developed a nice relationship that isn't obvious to people just glimpsing a small portion of it externally.
I suppose the question back to you is "what are you actually looking for in a relationship?"
Likewise you should pick someone who's ideologically similar to you. This is how dating websites with compatibility profiles match people up. Religious people tend to prefer the company of religious people, video gamers prefer other video gamers, so on and so forth.
You don't have to date, you don't have to actively look for a person to snog, you don't have to do very much. Be friendly, make friends with those you'd like to enter a relationship with, do stuff with your friends, progress if you want. There's tact in that last step but it seems like, as eggy is touching on, you're probably looking more at the philosophical reason to be in a relationship.
It's especially hard to convince people that think relationships aren't disney movies with a prince charming and romanticism, but that's also part of a compatibility thing... find someone that doesn't like the stuff you don't like. You'd be amazed at how well things fit together then.
Pretty much this.