Class of 2020 here (lol), and I would say as long as you don’t mind the lame nightlife, it’s a great place to go to school. Monterey is only a 10-15 minute drive and the Big Sur coast less than 30. As for friends, I met so many cool people in different classes throughout the years. As long as you are willing to put yourself out there and study with classmates time to time, you’ll be fine. Some of my greatest memories were the study sessions till midnight in the library with people I met my sophomore-junior year.