Northwestern First-Year Housing Options

Hello, I understand that NU has 3 types of housing for freshmen: residential halls, communities, and colleges. I’ve looked around the website and YouTube but I’m still a bit confused on what the main differences are. Can anyone explain the real differences between these options in terms of lifestyle, amenities, cost, application process, social life, etc? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Amenities are really by hall/dorm/community/whatever, so it really varies between all three options.
Res halls are just typical college dorms: you have everything you need in there, I believe. Northwestern is also trying out residential communities, which is a quasi-residential college system where residency in a community gives you access to a live-in faculty member as well as (I think) access to amenities at other residential communities. Residential colleges are more involved, but don’t have live-in faculty members and rather have many college fellows that participate in res college events.
I’m in a res college right now and I do have to say that it’s not for everyone; I’m most likely moving to a residential community next year. If you’re thinking about a res college, think about the community you’re entering and whether or not you’ll enjoy the res college culture. Otherwise, I think res communities and res halls are both fairly social options and you’ll make lots of friends either way.

This might be helpful to you: http://apps.northbynorthwestern.com/housing/2016/