A prevailing thought in "the community" is that you don't want to talk about commonplace topics - the thought is that everyone else does that, so you've got to be different.
This "rule" is just about the biggest piece of shit that I can think of.
If you're on a college campus, and you see a girl is holding a bio book -- talk about bio! Ask her what she thinks of the class, how it fits into her life plans. Talk about how you were studying biology in your psych class the other day..
"Topics" are just vehicles for you to relate to each other and vibe. Topics arn't important.
If you're staying on a surface level - regardless of the topic - you won't have a succesful interaction.
If you can take a conversation deeper and discuss feeligns and emotions -regardless of the topic - you will be rewarded with an incredible interaction, as well as something to do later that night.
Go to any bar and watch the naturals work. They arn't telling girls about best friend tests, they are talking about school, work, vacation, art, music, news...
They are just doing so in a way that lets the girls recognize their commonalities and create connections.
A final word on this subject - don't be afraid to ask generic questions - at first. "So what do you do?" Is a great question. You can't stop there, you have to go deeper. You have to relate to her. But don't be afraid to ask informational questions, they're a neccesity.