<p>I was told by a third-party college counselor that Northwestern will likely not even consider applicants unless they have visited the school? Validity of this statement?</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>Demonstrated interest is considered, but you can demonstrate interest by simply contacting the school, asking for a brochure, or even applying ED.</p>
<p>(Source: Northwestern CDS 2009-2010 . NU may have updated this policy due to the recent rise in applicants/prestige.)</p>
<p>when I went to a college fair held at my school one of the representatives for Northwestern was an actual admissions officer (or whatever you call it). When I talked to him he strongly advised me to visit the campus due to admission getting extremely competitive. He then told me that in a previous year they denied someone who did not make a visit to the campus in part due to the fact that they did not visit. I know it doesn’t sound fair but the admission officer told me that because the school is getting so competitive they’re looking for ways to weed out candidates and that’s one of them.</p>