>>10910979>besides, isn't the 'age' thing different for men than women?Not in the way you might think. Contrary to what some people may believe most women want someone around their own age, and most couples have a max age gap of between 2 and 3 years either way. If you look significantly younger than your age you might be able to hook up with people who look the same age as you look, but only if you are attractive enough to get hook ups in the first place (and you've already said this isn't the case) and only if they don't notice from your behaviour that you're not actually a college aged student.
Living a healthy lifestyle will help with looking attractive and being more confident, so if there are any aspects of your lifestyle you could improve on then do that.
There isn't enough time to make a proper cosplay before the next convention, my advice would be similar to what you already planned. Just go to the con, enjoy yourself (if you're not enjoying yourself there's no point), pick out some things from the schedule to go to so you're not only attending similar events all of the time, socialise and soak up the atmosphere. You might discover you don't enjoy conventions, but if you do enjoy conventions this would be a good time to plan another convention so that you have enough time to make a proper cosplay.
Going to a con alone isn't as much fun for anyone, so it could help to bring a friend who is interested in cons. If you don't have a friend who would be interested in going to a convention with you then you can get to know people online (not cgl, but some non anon anime/manga/game centered space) who live in the same area as you so you can go together.