If your cousin is going to want to live in the New England area for a few years after college to work I would say RW. If your cousin wants to be more down south I would say CN. That said I have not been to CN. My oldest and our family have now toured about 20 colleges and he is deciding between UVM, Fairfield and a few others. We have been to RW for lacrosse tournaments over the last 4 years and we were not impressed by the campus at all. It was small, not very clean (in comparison to what we have seen at other colleges in the last few years) and the area down by the ocean where there is a path had that boggy smell (yuck) and the path looked slightly scary ( I would not want my daughter to walk there alone). Yes, there are a few nice oceanside communities around as mentioned but when on campus you do not get that feel at all. Again this is all regarding that “charm” factor but it had more of a commuter college feel - all things being equal with money or majors you really need to have cousin visit both to see where their heart lies. Looking only at the pictures online looks very charming and it also has about 100 more acres of campus area which is a nice thing. I’m not dissing RW - I am sure the academics are decent but the feel was not impressive. Good luck we are going through the same thing and it is a very difficult thing to do and sometimes just comes down to that “gut” feeling. Wherever your cousin chooses there is a great chance to succeed as they are both solid schools so its a win-win based on that feeling!