College Visit Report--Knox College

[kokotg]

We visited Knox College in Galesburg, IL as part of the same trip last week where we saw Grinnell. DS really loved Grinnell and went into the Knox visit already kind of down on it because of some problems with e-mail communication leading up to the visit. So I was surprised when he really loved Knox, too! And pleased, since it's much easier to get into than Grinnell. So Knox is a small (about 1500 students) LAC in a medium sized town in northern Illinois--maybe an hour or so outside of Peoria. I think we first came across it on Colleges that Change Lives and liked the looks of it, and then ran the NPC and found it appears to have pretty good need and merit based aid, so it went on the list. 

Campus is very pretty with a lot of nice older buildings and also a shiny new arts building. Because of the aforementioned e-mail communication problems, we had no idea what our schedule was for the day when we turned up at the admissions building in the morning. It was finals week (Knox has trimesters, so they're out from Thanksgiving until after New Year's--which would actually be really nice since we're so far away: single plane ticket covers Thanksgiving and Christmas!), so he couldn't have done an overnight visit and he couldn't sit in on a class. But they had a schedule all printed out when we got there, and they kept us very busy. He had a two hour math test first thing, which is how they decide who gets a math scholarship that they give out every year. Then we had lunch with a student in the dining hall, then an info session (we were the only ones there that day, so that and the tour were just us), then a tour (with the same student  from lunch), then DS met with a math professor, then an interview (really just a very short informal conversation--I think she knew that DS was worn out by then and that we had a long drive ahead of us). 

Few things that stood out:

*They're very into Abraham Lincoln at Knox. The college was the site of one of the Lincoln Douglas debates (and it was founded by abolitionists). There are a lot of museum-type exhibits about the debates and about Lincoln, and you can sit in a chair that Lincoln sat in. They were very excited to learn that DS has a brother named after Abe Lincoln 🙂 .

*They have an interesting set up with the freshmen dorms: they're clusters of 8 double rooms around a shared common room and, if I understood correctly, the same people who share this space are all in the same section of the required first year class together. I'm very nervous that DS will want to hole up in his room and do nothing but study and stare at his phone in college, so I appreciate the ones that make and effort at enforced bonding for the first years!

*Every three years they offer something called rep term, where all you do for the term is theater--putting on two productions with the same group of something like 40 students. They emphasized that it's not just for theater majors. DS likely won't major or minor in theater, but he does act, and I hope he keeps it up in college, so I could definitely see him in something like that. 

*They have Greek life, which is a drawback for DS, but it's something like 25% who join, and it sounds like it's easy to avoid if that's your inclination. 

Overall it seemed like a good place for quirky, academically minded kids. Honestly, I'm still not entirely sure exactly why DS liked it so much (I really thought he was just sold on Grinnell and nothing else would measure up)....and he can't really explain it, either. I think he just got a good feeling from it and liked everyone he came in contact with. I mean, I liked it a lot, too, but I wouldn't have necessarily guessed that it would stand out from the pack as much as it did. 

[Chris in VA]

Just seeing your post. I don't post here very often but have been on WTM boards a long time. I am currently living in Jerusalem, and my husband is on staff with the Anglican Episcopal Church. The Diocese runs a guest house. 

I sat in church on Sunday with a group from Knox! There were about 15-20 students here for a tour of Israel. They were a very eclectic mix of different religions (and no religion). I met two of the professors--James Thrall and a woman professor of history whose name escapes me. They were well-spoken and really seemed to care about their students. 

I hope your son enjoys his search!