If you don’t feel you would fit at Berkeley, then don’t go. It’s not for everybody. Not sure it’s easy to minor across schools at Cal Poly SLO–look it up to be sure. SLO is definitely small town/rural with lots of natural beauty and lots to photograph. Very good quality of life there. There is almost literally nothing to photograph in Irvine, in my opinion, but if you’re willing to drive (and you are), then you can get to a lot of nice stuff, from the beach to Laguna canyon to Trabuco/Saddleback etc. Irvine puts you in the center of SoCal car culture, and gives you access to LA for urban things. You can probably get a good education at either school. Cal Poly used to have an active autocross club/community–not sure if they still do, but ask when you visit.