<p>So I've read the website. I know about the rankings and faculty-student ratio. But if I send my D to Knox, what are we going to get in return? It's hard to get a sense of that from these sources, and traveling to Knox from the east coast just to find that out is out of the question. Travel expenses are one of the drawbacks to Knox, as is the absence of a nearby graduate school and university hospital (she wants to major in neuroscience). Knox is a midwest school about which I know nothing that separates it from the other midwest LACs.</p>
<p>So can you tell me why I would want to send D to Knox? She's interested as well in linguistics, languages, art history, and the environment. She's intellectually curious, interdisciplinary in her approach, and fairly social. She enjoys giving herself to others and working in groups.</p>
<p>What's the lowdown on the food, dorms, Galesburg, research opportunities, laboratory equipment, language labs, science research funding, etc.? Tell me please what you can, because the information that's available about Knox is inadequate for my purposes. Thanks.</p>
<p>My daughter is currently looking at Knox too and we have made one visit. She really wants to attend. The students are really friendly and it seems like a close knit campus. Sorry I don’t know much about the sciences there but it seems like they are really into environmental issues. I think they have a good record for grads continuing on to grad school. My daughter likes the idea of the trimester schedule. They start school late, get a long winter break, and get out in early June which is different from most college’s schedules. There is a lot of information on their website too. I would recommend also liking their facebook page. They post things every day and I have learned a lot from that. Also, their student newspaper is award winning and you can read it online at [The</a> Knox Student | Student-written, student-run, student-read since 1878. Student-programmed since 2007.](<a href=“http://www.theknoxstudent.com%5DThe”>http://www.theknoxstudent.com). It has lots of good information about what campus life is like and current issues. I did notice on the website there is an organization and clubs page. It lists the student contacts for each one so it might be a good way to touch base with some students. The buildings are a mixture of old and new but it seemed like everything was taken care of. We weren’t real impressed with the dorms but we did not see them all. I know there are quite a few choices. Everything on campus is fairly close together. They are redoing the Alumni Hall building now. I think it will be finished this school year. Galesburg seems a little rough but there are lots of shops within walking distance and I think it is very safe. We are going to revisit again soon.</p>
<p>I’ll try to answer some of your questions jkeil911. First, we are from NY and, yes, the commute from NY to Knox sucks, there’s no two ways about that! My daughter is a sophomore and we have tried a number of different approaches - I think we’ve settled on her getting a ride to the Chicago airport from one of the many kids who live around Chicago and then she flies home to NY. There’s also the Amtrak but then you need to get from downtown Chicago to the airport, there’s a shuttle from the Galesburg campus to the Peoria airport or the Quad Cities airport but that’s a double plane ride. The good news about the commute is that it’s infrequent because of the trimester system. They start school in September and don’t return until a few days before Thanksgiving (missing the airport rush) and don’t return back to Galesburg until January 2. There is a one week vacation in March and last year my daughter went to a friend for the week and we flew out to Chicago to meet up with her for a day just to say “hi.” (Flights from NY to Chicago are inexpensive off peak.) Then they’re home in June until September again. But the commute is the only true negative with Knox, IMHO. I’ve been told that if there are enough students who need to fly out of Chicago they would arrange a shuttle bus but that’s not the case right now.</p>
<p>Knox offers students like your daughter a true LAC experience, every class relates to other classes, and topics are discussed with those relationships in mind. Knox is incredibly friendly and not cliquish at all (which you need to be careful of at small schools). Professors take a great interest in their students and have chosen Knox because Galesburg and the surrounding towns are where they want to raise their families and Knox is a small midwestern college where the students are involved in both the campus activities and town activities. If you look at the schools many of the professors come from you will see Ivy League and other top notch universities that they have both graduated from and taught at, Knox is not where they go because they can’t teach anywhere else; they’ve chosen Knox because they believe in it.</p>
<p>Knox offers many creative classes and majors as well as independent studies and “create your own” classes and majors. They are very strong believers in community service both on campus and within the community. They offer programs abroad and within the US to enhance their students majors and interests, for example, art students can study in NYC or Chicago for a term.</p>
<p>I could babble on and on as Knox is an amazing school. If it was on the east coast it would be impossible to get into, it would be so popular. It’s rural location is an asset, not a negative. I cannot overemphasize the importance of visiting this school, do you really want to invest 4 years and all that money without visiting? If you’re looking at other midwest schools, make a trip of it, that’s what we did three years ago - Grinnell (hated, didn’t apply), Knox (applied, admitted), Beloit (applied, admitted). In addition my daughter applied and was admitted to Hampshire, Bard, Pitzer, Alfred. Knox was by far the best choice for her and that was determined by the admitted student days at each college. It is everything we hoped it would be, the perfect college for her. Only you can determine how it fits for your child.</p>
<p>I am much obliged to you for your help, amtc and DNDavis. Are there any other parents or some Knox students who can fill me in? The remarks on student review websites are not so favorable. They speak of the lack of diversity, the cliques, the surrounding town, the food, dorms, etc.</p>
<p>Hi jkeil911! My name is Derinn, and I am a current sophomore at Knox! I absolutely love going to school here and am positive it was the right choice for me. I, personally, have not seen the lack of diversity at Knox because I really branched out to different groups, such as my sports teams, suite, and clubs. The different people I encountered during my several visits were actually the reason I chose Knox in the first place, and I still stand by my choice. I also really do not see the cliques that other students speak of, but I think it all depends on the student’s effort. I have made the effort to talk to different people and make many friends on campus, so I really do not see these cliques. Galesburg probably has fewer amenities than some might be used to, but it has anything one would need. There is a downtown area within walking distance with lots of restaurants and cute little local shops, as well as a Walmart and Target in town. As far as entertainment goes, while there is not a tremendous amount to do in town besides going to the movies or going bowling, there is always something going on on the campus itself. The food at Knox is not something that bothers me, but I know some people complain about the lack of variety. I honestly think this is just kids being picky, as Helmut, the head of Dining Services, does a great job of changing up the food and having options if what is served that day does not appeal to someone. As a vegan, my options are limited, and I still do not tire of the food. I have been lucky in my dorm life here at Knox. My first year, I was in the all-freshman-girls dorm called Post Hall, which I absolutely loved because of the suite-style living but with private bathrooms. This year I am in the other side of Post, which is for upperclassmen and is co-ed, but I live in a suite with all girls. It is the same set-up. If you have any other questions or would like me to go into deeper detail, please feel free to message me on here or email me at <a href=“mailto:dawallace@knox.edu”>dawallace@knox.edu</a>. I hope that helps!</p>
<p>I have not heard of anyone transferring to WashU, although we do obviously have transfers like any other school. I would definitely call that rumor false, though.</p>
<p>so, derinn, what has Knox to offer my D, who is interested in neuroscience and grad school but also has interests in languages, philosophy, and art history? she wants some place where many of the students are intellectually curious and where the curriculum will allow her room to explore. she avoids people who are not serious intellectually and emotionally. might she be happy there?</p>
<p>jkeil911, I am a current senior at Knox college. As a neuroscience and biochemistry double major who is also actively involved in the music program via the Knox Jazz Ensemble, I can say with confidence that Knox gives students room to explore academically. With very few exceptions, any major and minor combination from any of the existing programs are available to students. Additionally, with the Self Designed Major/Minor program, your daughter could collaborate with faculty members in multiple departments to create a major in, for example linguistics, to meet her needs. </p>
<p>Historically, a majority of the students who graduate from the Knox neuroscience department end up finding graduate programs within 2-3 years of matriculation. The absence of nearby graduate schools or university hospitals does not hurt her changes of getting into a program. The important thing to understand is that graduate schools in the sciences look for research experience; Knox offers its students ample opportunity to conduct independent research, and help the faculty with research. However, she will also want to look for unaffiliated programs to supplement that research experience at home during the summer and winter breaks. </p>
<p>As for the students: just like any other college or university, there will be students that are serious about academics, and there will be students at Knox who are less mature. However, it is not difficult to find people here who are serious academically, and who are eager to have academic conversations. Speaking from personal experience, I talk with many of my friends who are also Neuroscience majors about their research on a weekly basis, and we have set up a journal club to encourage discussion about neuroscience research.</p>
<p>thank you, NeuroMajor and Derinn. your answers are helpful. I went to a small LAC and found it intolerable at times. I haven’t told her that, but I wonder if she will find Knox or any rural LACs too small. Might be time for a road trip after this big storm cranks thru. We’ll just have to see what she does in the next couple weeks.</p>
<p>I went to one of those online student review sites a few years ago and saw a lot of bad reviews for Knox – but looking at the curious pattern of date stamps on those reviews made me think they were all posted by one (or a few) people. Those reviews weren’t interspersed over time with the rest of the posts. Instead the harsh negative reviews appeared in a tight cluster, then some time later in another tight cluster, and so on, as though someone(s) were sitting down occasionally to lash out at the school. I don’t remember the name of the site and don’t know whether it’s the same one you saw, but I’d recommend checking the dates and content of the reviews to see if anything smells fishy.</p>
<p>I’m the father of a Knox Senior who is majoring in Creative Writing and Religion, and minoring in Theater. He has truly blossomed at Knox - has leadership roles with the student improv club and his fraternity. (The Greek system is very service-oriented) Knox has a strong writing/theater creative scene. To characterize his friends and those in his creative milieu, they are independent, differently thinking - but not just to be different. No affectation welcome, this is the Midwest. He feels that there’s plenty to do on campus, but he doesn’t have much use for big city nightlife. I don’t know much about the sciences at Knox, but I am a fan of their Mathematics curriculum, which features two classes on option pricing theory. I hired a Knox Math-Econ double major to value financial derivatives, and that has turned out very well - his profs required him to write out explanations of math solutions, so this has been a bonus with client communication.</p>