First-Year Applicants

What We Consider

Knox seeks students who are intellectually curious, creative, and eager to engage with classmates and teachers from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. Students with initiative, imagination, eagerness for learning, and personal maturity are best able to benefit from the opportunities at Knox. Successful applicants have a sense that there's more to life than the classroom and more to life than just themselves.

Just as a Knox education develops the whole individual, we consider the whole individual when making our admission decisions.

In order of importance, we'll consider the following information in evaluating your admission application:

• The types and difficulty of the courses you've taken in high school -- the more challenging and rigorous your choices, the better prepared you'll be.
• The grades you earned in those courses -- in addition to a high level of achievement we're looking for consistency in performance.
• Your personal essay -- this is your opportunity to tell us about yourself.
• The recommendation of your teachers and counselors -- these people can verify your achievements and evaluate your preparedness for college.
• Your admission interview -- we want to get to know you—put a face with your name and a personality with your application. 
• Your extracurricular activities -- well-rounded students tend to be successful students. 
• Your ACT and/or SAT I scores -- if you choose to submit them!

High School Coursework

Applicants should be well prepared for the rigors of a Knox education. We encourage you to take full advantage of opportunities available at your high school and to challenge yourself academically, which could include taking honors, Advanced Placement (AP), and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses when available. Successful candidates for admission will have completed at least:

• 4 years of English
• 3-4 years of math
• 3-4 years of science
• 3-4 years of social studies
• 2-4 years of a foreign language

A Note about Test Scores

The submission of SAT I or ACT scores is optional for most applicants. Knox adopted this policy so that you can decide for yourself if your scores adequately reflect your abilities and potential for success in college. There is no score above which you should decide to submit your scores. If you elect to provide your scores, they will be considered and can sometimes help us in assessing your abilities more fully. Scores can be submitted either directly from the testing agency or on your official secondary school transcript.

Note: Home-schooled applicants or candidates applying from secondary schools that do not provide grades are asked to submit results from one or more standardized test, such as SAT I, SAT II, ACT, AP or IB examination results, or grades from college courses.