That's not a true statement. I remember the one of the chick who wanted to be a model, but I forget her name! Her last name starts with a 'W'. She left CA to New York to pursue modelling. She was made over, thanks to the help of the cool guy, Paul.  She had the looks, but still had some tweaking to do. Believe it or not, she was accepted by six popular NY modelling agencies. She chose "Women" to represent her since it's the agency that got Naomi Campbell where she is now. Although I haven't seen her get much bookings, she did get accepted by Women, which is a big deal. And in my opinion, she had the looks. Of course she was Black, so her chances with contracts aren't the same as it would be if she were White. Besides, there's already a supermodel who has her kind of face.
Then there was the one of Katie, the geek who wanted to see what it was like to be popular and win a pageant show. She didn't build the attitude that she needed. And she had some weight to lose. However, she started to show interest much later and won the Prom Queen title. She also got so much attention at her school. Although she didn't win the pageant show, she did come close. She came third place, I believe. And that's understandable since other girls had more than she did in physical appearance. She accomplished what she wanted to. Now she's content with her geeky ways and appreciates it.
As for the rest, I can agree that many fail.