Should I try this AS group?

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I'm a 20 something who is really struggling with the social aspects of AS. Tomorrow an AS young women's group is meeting (sponsored by an autism center) and I am so desperate for friends I'm thinking of going but I'm so scared I'm panicking.

Are you afraid of something in particular?

This sounds like a great opportunity, even if you don't make long term friends to meet people, and if you don't meet people to learn some helpful stuff! I can only speculate to why you are nervous, is it because of past social failures or rejection? Maybe you're just very sensitive to environments so you're anxious about that? But you did not elaborate so I can only speculate.
Try some relaxing music and deep breathing and keep focusing your mind on the present, not any past failures or anxieties and not any 'what-if's' in the future. That in itself is a skill to be learnt but it will help you calm down before going.
It might help to list all the things that make you a great individual and a great friend so you can focus on them, after all a loyal friend with bad social skills is better than one that runs at the sign of difficulties.

I just get nervous in new situations. It's easier to do what I've always done even if I'm really unhappy not having any social life.

I know how you feel. Going somewhere I do not know everything about gets me nervous all the time. I just take slow deep breathes and I tell myself to just deal with it. In time you will get more comfortable.

Do you know much about the group (e.g. discussion format, who runs it, what kinds of things you talk about, how many people might/do attend routinely, the actual specifics of wherever you all meet -- what it looks like)?

If not, would it help at all if you knew more about the group beforehand, so there was a bit less unknown? Maybe you could call the autism center or whoever runs the group and ask them about it. Maybe you could go and see the meeting place before the meeting (even if you just showed up early before a meeting).

Another thought -- maybe you could find out if anybody would care if you just showed up and then left if you were having a hard time.

That is if the meeting hasn't already happened.... If you already went, I hope it was a good experience. If you didn't go, remember you can always go another time.

I did go and the first 30 minutes I was like what the hell am I doing but then I got more comfortable and it went better. Definitely better than being home alone again. It was just nice to see others like me - really high functioning autistics who aren't obviously disabled.

My advice would be to try it and see how it goes, and if you like the group, then you could go to it in the future.

Glad to see you were able to go and find a sense of community with those like yourself, and I hope you continue to attend and perhaps develop a friendship or two. My biggest wish right now is that more people with ASD would find value in coming together and sharing experiences.

The organizer invited me to another get together next week and I think I'll go. It's better than nothing.