Is Cal Poly SLO the right place for me?

NLinsanity
Sat, 26 Mar 2016 21:49:50 +0000

Hi there,

Asian American senior here, who also likes to procrastinate. Cal Poly is by far the best decision I could have ever made. I was in the same boat you were when I was a freshman and encountered some of the same worries. Now, you are correct and in that there is an Asian bubble here at Poly that tends to voluntarily segregate itself from the white community. That population is also substantially large (11%) and throws a lot of parties that are mostly attended by other Asians.

However, white people also have a huge span of types that aren’t just preppy jocks. What I can tell you is that you will stand out here more at Cal Poly than say if you ended up in a UC. If you have the outgoing personality that you described then you have opportunity to make your face be more memorable, you won’t just be someone who blends into the masses.

A lot of the Asians who come here end up staying in the bubble community, and there’s nothing wrong with that either. I say that not insultingly, but to drive the point that it’s very easy to step out of the bubble. It’s just that not a lot of them do.