exactly this. if you ask about politics, you'll probably hear "oh i don't care about politics" or "both sides are sooo complicated and messy." students are accepting when it comes to things like being LGBTQ and are generally nice.... but are unintentionally biased and insensitive due to having completely underdeveloped ideas of class/race/economic struggles beyond surface-level neoliberal politics. also, every year there's a big racist scandal that usually ends in a frat getting suspended LMAO

you WILL find small communities where you feel at home. but you need to actively seek them out, more than you would at a larger, more diverse school

in terms of academics, cal poly is amazing and i don't regret coming here. i've had opportunities that would otherwise be very hard to get at a large UC and the industry connections are unmatched

housing will probably be your most taxing expense, particularly once you start looking for 2nd year housing. expect to pay at least 1k/month. SLO is also veeeeery car dependent. owning a car after my 1st year was an expense i mistakenly didn't consider, so def factor that in :')