I'm a little worried about this, thoughts ladies?

I'm an 18 year old guy, never had a girlfriend, and a virgin. For good reason, I wasn't ready for a long time and I even had a couple opportunities where I could probably have had sex but decided not to, and when I was ready I couldn't find anyone truly worth it. But my question is, what would most girls think about this, especially around the college age? How would you girls react coming from the scenario of a potential hookup, or for a potential real relationship? I feel like most girls would run away from a virgin because the guy is expected to "know what he's doing" and because girls don't want to risk the guy getting clingy. I would just not tell her, but if I'm not all that great the first time or three I want her to understand why...I have done a lot of research and I know a lot about sex but it's very different from actually doing it, experience is the best teacher. Thoughts ladies?