Knox College Top Questions

People are generally very open-minded, and the professors are incredibly helpful. The big picture is that everyone wants you to do well and wants to help you do well. The atmosphere is so supportive, it's hard to believe after going through high-school where it's so easy to slip through the cracks. Here it's almost impossible.

The best thing about Knox is because it's so small, you get to know a lot of people really well. That can be good and bad, because that also means that everyone knows a lot about you too. Most people have never heard of Knox, but once you experience it, it's something you'll never forget. Galesburg is not the greatest town, but there are plenty of activities/parties to go to on campus. The administration at Knox seems to be very helpful in assisting you to accomplish anything you dream. Recently, John Ashford, a big conservative, came to speak at our campus. There were some protests and a lot of controversy over whether they were disrespectful or expressing their right to free speech. The controversy wasn't about the fact that they protested, it was how they went about doing it. As a whole, our sports teams aren't very good, but we still show a lot of school pride.

Knox is located in Galesburg, IL, which isn't the nicest town, but inside the Knox bubble is perfectly safe. Students generally enjoy their classes, especially those within their major and everyone's doing their own thing- delving into their passions and coming up with awesome discoveries. People are so heavily-involved in campus activities that eating during the day becomes a luxury. Knox's administration are really cool people who are easy to talk to and know where the students are coming from. There are running jokes, and funny stories about the Deans and other administrators floating around. They are just a friendly group of people. Campus has a lot of corners you can tuck yourself away into, or big open places you can work or hang out in. Post Lobby, the Gizmo, and CFA (green room and terrace) all are great places to just relax and socialize. But if you want to get some real studying done, there's always nooks and crannies scattered throughout the library. Sports aren't a real big thing on campus, but school pride still exists, mostly because we are proud of individual student's accomplishments and how they reflect on us as a whole.

Knox has the most open-minded yet closed-minded people I know. Everyone wants to seem open-minded yet when right-wing political or conservative religious ideas are expressed people seem to become very offended and attack the people who express unpopular ideas instead of attacking the ideas themselves. It is frustrating.

I'm pretty happy with Knox overall. I know my professors and they know me; I'm not another body taking up space in the classroom. I've also had lots of opportunities to apply all that I'm learning in the "real world." There's lots of homework and you can choose to do it or not. Knox students seem to be pretty good at BSing there way through class and, thus, avoiding homework until the night before midterms/finals. Galesburg isn't a college town and it probably never will become one...so don't get your hopes up if you choose to come here. Granted, there are still plenty of things to do. I spend many nights hanging out with friends at Gizmo or in each others rooms relaxing. On weekends, I tend to go back to Peoria with friends or stick around in Galesburg but go out to eat or to see a movie. Now that its spring term, everyone on campus is looking forward to Flunk Day - an annual spring carnival at Knox. Nobody knows when Flunk Day is besides the planning committee...so one day, the whole campus will wake up only to realize that classes have been canceled in exchange for a day-long party. Alcohol, drugs, mud pits, foam pits, and craziness are to be expected.

I love the Knox student body. There really is no "typical" Knox student, and the one thing that brings us all together is how different we all our. At Knox, I have always felt free to be myself, however weird and wacky that might be, and people appreciate me for it. My first week at school, I met many of the people who would become my closest circle of friend randomly sitting in a circle in a sidewalk junction in the quads throwing a ball to each other. This group continues to meet weekly over a year later. One complaint I have about Knox is the town. Galesburg is in the middle of nowhere and the campus is not situated in the safest of neighborhoods. I do not feel comfortable leaving campus by myself at night and there really isn't anywhere to go even if you do leave campus. Although we are only a few hours to Chicago, you won't get there as often as you might like to think you will. This can get pretty confining.

Knox is great. Class sizes are small, you have one on one with your professors, who almost always (I haven't had one yet who didn't) have you call them by their first names. Most of them don't like being called something that "makes them feel old." There's always something going on or someone to run into and randomly strike conversation with. That's pretty much how everyone makes friends.

Knox is a great small community where there a lot of diverse opportunities, but you still have extremely close interaction with faculty and staff. The town of Galesburg isn't amazing, but more than adequate for a college town. Most everything you would want to do is on campus.

One of the best things about Knox is the first real warm, sunny day at Knox after a long winter. Everyone is in their summer dresses, shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops. The Gizmo Patio is packed with students having lunch or a snack, studying, and hanging out.