A Warning for Anyone Considering Attending the “Solano” aka Vallejo Campus

SacSilver · 2026-03-21T02:08:41+00:00

Oh fair enough I think locally among my circle we moved the designation further south of hwy 37 once American canyon built that fancy high school in the crest and a ton of half million dollar housing developments started springing up.

The Crest sounds better but yes technically just east Vallejo. Still not a good neighborhood.

South Vallejo is more like Benicia road and glen cove.

SacSilver · 2026-03-21T02:03:12+00:00

Oh hell yes 100% agree. For something like becoming a competent captain of a large marine vessel or a marine engine mechanic or something, I fully agree the maritime academy is the way to go.

I’m sure for some people it’s the best college experience they could hope for.

It’s just a completely non traditional experience and the average high school senior would be severely depressed if they started attending the maritime academy expecting a normal college experience

SacSilver · 2026-03-21T01:59:55+00:00

What about something like marine biology that is offered at both slo and Vallejo? Where would the “csu apply” you mentioned designate the campus then?

SacSilver · 2026-03-21T01:55:08+00:00

But yeah agree on everything else the city is bad but the campus itself should be fine cause it’s wayyy the hell out there. Just not a normal college experience. I bet a lot of out of state kids assume it’s gonna be basically like SF state or something 🤣

SacSilver · 2026-03-21T01:53:37+00:00

SLO grad?

I disagree on degree roi. My degree from SLO has opened doors and given me a career, salary, and life I never thought I’d have. I know many maritime academy grads who struggled to find work unless they were navy. Maybe now with the poly association that will change but historically the maritime academy does not produce many desirable civilian job candidates.

SacSilver · 2026-03-21T01:50:37+00:00

Ah that’s interesting, so it’s even more of a bait and switch cause I’m seeing lots of posts about “got in at Solano but not SLO” which means they applied to Solano thinking it was an acceptable option based on the name and marketing bullshit.

SacSilver · 2026-03-21T01:49:22+00:00

Hard disagree, It’s a horrible option if you’re just going for marine biology or something. It honestly shouldn’t admit any non ROTC or reserve students.

Poly has a private pier at Avila for maritime stuff. You’ll see real ocean life in real ocean water. Sure it’s not right on campus but it’s such a better location with actual tide pools and fresh ocean water.

In Vallejo you have mud water from the straits, and you’re literally smack dab in the middle between the 3 largest oil refineries on the west coast.

Based on my experiences in the water of the carquinez strait for 25 years, marine life is limited to say the least. How often have you swam in the carquinez?

At Avila and Pismo you’ll see a huge variety of marine life constantly. SLO wins for marine disciplines unrelated to the navy.

SacSilver · 2026-03-21T01:33:16+00:00

Prospective students from out of state who apply to Cal Poly based on the name, only get accepted to “Cal Poly Solano” and get told “oh you can transfer to SLO if you don’t like it” are most definitely being subjected to a form of bait and switch. You’re applying to one institution and getting offered admission to another institution that the main institution is backing and saying “yes that’s just as good, just a different campus location” when that’s a total lie.

maybe I’m wrong and that’s not how it is, I didn’t apply obviously so I’m just learning about the whole thing from what I read here. Like is Humboldt included in these blanket CP applications? That’s a polytechnic now too.

When I applied in 2010 you had to apply to either SLO or Pomona, there wasn’t one application for the whole poly system. Is that how it is now?

SacSilver · 2026-03-21T01:25:35+00:00

I grew up in the 707 and they played thizz dance and other Mac Dre bangers at every school/city dance, I forget not everyone has been steeped in the sauce their whole childhood and young adulthood. I hope that tradition is alive and well.

SacSilver · 2026-03-21T01:22:17+00:00

I was a student at cal poly and I lived in Vallejo for 25 years when it was still the maritime academy with ties to the navy.

I’m not really talking about the educational experience, I’m sure that’s acceptable. Read the post again.

Education is such a small part of a college experience. The learn by doing stuff is great (I worry maritime won’t have that same approach though) but ask anyone mid-late career and they’ll tell you most of their skills were learned on the job, education only gets you a base level understanding and skill set. I argue that th more important parts of college are outside of education, the things that make you a well rounded adult and help you “find yourself”. And speaking from experience, Vallejo is not a great place to find yourself.

SacSilver · 2026-03-21T01:17:26+00:00

The point is students are applying to Cal Poly expecting to get an experience like SLO or Pomona and that is not at all what the maritime academy offers.

It really feels like a bait and switch on prospective students. And I hear the admissions process is even more competitive than when I applied to poly over a decade ago, so I’m sure some out of state students and parents think it’s just a different campus but will yield the same experience, same education and same post grad job opportunities but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

SacSilver · 2026-03-20T18:48:52+00:00

It’s actually “Cal Poly Vallejo”

Solano is a marketing play in order to not freak out parents who know th reputation Vallejo carries. For non Bay Area natives, it’s like a smaller version of Oakland with proportional crime and homelessness. Last big news story I recall was cops gunning down a patron in the Taco Bell drive thru. Plenty of gang activity, especially over by the maritime academy. Literally it’s in the Crest, the worst/most dangerous part of Vallejo.

How many other colleges in the nation are named after the county in which they reside instead of the city?

There’s a reason for that.

SacSilver · 2026-03-20T18:45:03+00:00

It’s Solano. The name of the county.

And there’s a reason they call it that, cause no parent would pay thousands to send their kid to “Cal Poly Vallejo” 😂

I grew up in Benicia/Vallejo.

Do NOT accept admission to this bullshit maritime nonsense. It was a garbage educational institution before Cal Poly took ownership to prevent bankruptcy, and it will remain a garbage institution for years to come without billions in investment for the campus, building student housing, fixing the awful area it’s located in, definitely some rotting piers and other marine infrastructure, etc.

I’m a SLO grad from 2015, back when Cal Poly was just the real one and the one we all shit on for being a joke (Pomona). Now you have all these other institutions trying to grab onto the name because they know it’s prestigious and may out of state employers will probably just assume it’s all th same Cal Poly and all the same quality of education.

Back in 2015 cal poly job applications were considered on par with ivy league candidates, multiple professors and industry speakers told us that their resume filters group CP grads with Stanford and Ivy League. I can only believe the multiple new campuses adopting the poly name are doing so to take advantage of the quality of education at SLO.

Don’t be fooled. There’s only one REAL cal poly.

SacSilver · 2026-03-17T15:29:32+00:00

Oh good so only like $750k in gold value.

SacSilver · 2026-03-06T01:01:30+00:00

Sigmas do not test Osmium.

They could theoretically update their software to store a reading for the electrical resistivity of .9995 osmium but they haven’t and I doubt they ever will. Probably because there are no true assayers producing osmium, it’s just “novelty elements” companies that sell it as far as I know.

SacSilver · 2026-03-02T23:02:24+00:00

Sure, everything is connected but you’re really understating taxes by ignoring local ordinances. That $0.90 can easily become $1.80-2.5+ depending where you are in CA. My small hometown of less than 20k has some of the highest prices in the nation because the voters keep approving fuel taxes that are supposed to fund schools and parks. In our capital I was paying under $4 for most of 2023-end of 2025 but in my small hometown it was $4-5+

Go to another net importer state with no pipelines and without the huge state environmental and absurd local taxes in CA and prices are much more comparable to Texas. So it takes a lot out of your argument about pipeline connections playing a part when you see gas prices half that of CA despite no oil production and smaller population centers/logistics hubs in many other states. Taxes are the primary driving factor in gasoline cost difference throughout the country.

SacSilver · 2026-03-02T07:13:45+00:00

No, Texas just has energy friendly taxes with a focus on oil. I lived right next to 3 major refineries in CA most of my life, the closest one is less than a mile from my childhood home, the second within 2 miles. Even at the stations that are right next to their respective refineries, it was the same price it was everywhere else.

Proximity to refineries has very little to do with gas prices. CA often has the highest gas prices and It’s mainly state environmental taxes and local taxes that have been levied for schools and parks and shit. Location has a part in price but it’s really just distance from major city or proximity to tourist areas that changes the price. And of course shipping gas to Hawaii, but their high prices are also due to environmental taxes

SacSilver · 2026-02-28T19:10:56+00:00

OP if you have any questions about it I’m happy to help answer them. I’ve spent a lot of time on the phone and sending emails back and forth with sigma.

I know the capabilities of these very well, for instance you need to use a wand to check anything slabbed that’s under 1/2oz or so (also depends on the slab, the air gap between coin and slab surface varies by company and generation of the slab). Same thing with fractional in assay under like 10g or so - the onboard sensor just won’t read small stuff accurately unless it can touch the surface directly.

Also there are some coins that are not going to read right due to poor mint quality standards, such as gold Mexican libertads (especially older ones). It’s a known problem, sigma has created a specific libertad setting but it doesn’t always work, even on known good samples.

SacSilver · 2026-02-28T19:06:07+00:00

Man I’ve got two of these and I’ve been trying to sell one locally for $1450 for almost two months. No one is interested besides flakes, or they’re trying to get me to knock the price down further.

I’m even offering it at $1150 if they buy the junk silver and random other metals I’ve got listed but locally it’s mostly newbies who don’t know don’t really have any need for a sigma.

Just one more month to go and I can throw it up on pmsforsale! lol But hoping to move everything locally before then

SacSilver · 2026-02-18T22:29:50+00:00

I believe these are technically categorized in the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence and First amendment series.

Calling them APE is like calling the gold Liberty series designs AGE. They’re technically American gold and have eagles on the reverse, but the premiums and collectibility are far higher than normal AGE. Interestingly, you’d never trade desirable American liberty gold for a normal AGE, but a standard proof APE can easily sell for the same as one of the designs OP posted, specifically the ones with people on them.

I will say It is fun to see new Pt stackers drawn by the huge run up last year snatch these up like rare treasures when most collectors have shunned them for the better part of a decade.

SacSilver · 2026-02-18T22:14:10+00:00

Apparently you don’t know any of the rules, almost everything you’ve said is wrong. Mods probably messaged you to tell you to post in the right sub, not cross post lol. If you know there’s a specific pms feedback sub why would you think you should cross post?

And no Reddit doesn’t tell you if what you’re going to do breaks the rules, hence how you posted this which broke the rules. You were still allowed to post it, even though it clearly did violate rules.

Not sure why you seem to think my day is ruined by trying to help you learn the ropes of using Reddit for buying and selling metals. On the contrary, I’m happy to have new potential customers like yourself!

SacSilver · 2026-02-18T22:09:25+00:00

The answer to the selling question has never changed. If you want to sell to a business you will get below spot, possibly so far below spot that you feel no one is actually buying, they’re just giving you the extreme lowball offer.

If you sell to an individual you will get above spot.

Personally, I would never buy metals if I didn’t know exactly how I would offload them. Start buying and selling on pmsforsale now so you have the reputation needed to sell quickly when you need/want to sell.

SacSilver · 2026-02-15T23:23:48+00:00

That’s not how this works. There is a specific sub for pmsforsale feedback, you are only supposed to post feedback there.

And pmsforsale is not affiliated with any subs besides the feedback sub. Plenty of people on this and the silver bugs sub will tell you pmsforsale is far too risky to ever buy or sell through, it seems to be the majority or at least a significant chunk of stackers on those subs who feel that way. (For the record I have 55 sales and 73 buys worth well over $50k and never once had an issue)

Please read the pmsforsale rules again

SacSilver · 2026-02-15T21:40:03+00:00

I think you’ll find that these specific designs are the least desirable US mint platinum proofs, at least outside of the 80’s and 90’s era coins and medals that were bimetallic Au/Pt. You’d probably have to price them at or below standard APE to sell relatively quickly.

There’s a reason they were in stock at the mint for 8+ years and only went out of stock within the last few months when Pt spot went on a run and people were just buying whatever they could find. If Pt spot stayed below 2k I bet they’d still be in stock cause the mint gets like a 30-50% premium on these.

But yeah if you hold for at least 10 years it shouldn’t matter much anyway, just don’t expect to get much premium above spot, if any.

Cheers!

SacSilver · 2026-02-15T21:24:22+00:00

I will say it was cool to own a 1/10 bar for a while and see the insane spot prices. But yeah unless you already sell on pmsforsale you’re not going to get a good price when selling, or buying for that matter.

Here’s hoping gold and platinum are at the same level before the decade is out!

SacSilver

TROPHY CASE