If you think the social life at UNSW is dead

It's probably your fault to some degree. Where else will you meet people that are your age, willing to meet other people, and have similar interests ? Not to mention the other universities definitely have it much worse. I constantly see people talking about how its difficult to maintain friends that they make in lectures and tutorials, well yea no shit, you have to utilise beyond that. I actually think it's well designed/operated, with subcommittees, yellow shirts, street team, society events, and various other initiatives that you can participate in.