Is University of Colorado at Boulder better or Colorado state university?

CU Boulder is definitely more highly-regarded than Colorado State. Comparing CU Boulder and Purdue, they're fairly on the same level, but Purdue is ranked slightly higher overall. To be honest, though, you'd have to consider exactly what type of program you're interested in. For instance, across the board, the engineering program at Purdue is very highly ranked, while CU's is about 30 spots behind. Whereas, CU Boulder has some of the best specialized physics programs in the nation. These are just a couple of examples.

Some good info. can be found here:

For Purdue: http://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2009a/090423USNewsRank...

For CU Boulder: http://www.colorado.edu/news/r/514a665cfdffe62a6b2...

Something to keep in mind, though, is that program rankings are typically done at the graduate (masters and/or doctoral) level. So...these rankings may not necessarily be indicative of the kind of education you'd receive at these schools at the undergrad level. However, the prestige of the program is certainly a carry-over, if that's of concern to you.

Something else to consider is the location. West Lafayette, IN is not a fantastic location. It's very flat, and there's a ton of corn. Boulder, however, is gorgeous. It's in a valley, which is butted up right against the flat irons. You really can't beat the view! Cost of living is another factor to consider. Boulder is definitely more expensive than W. Lafayette!

CU Boulder is definitely much better than CSU- rankings, academics and reputation.

Purdue is actually ranked a little higher than CU (#61 vs #77) but there are a lot of ties inbetween them so they are actually quite close. Also both are pretty strong in sciences- physics, chem, engineering specialties, etc.

I think it probably just depends what you want to study, and also where you want to study. Its not just geography that is different, Boulder and W. Lafayette have very different feels to them to say the least. One is a town in the middle of rural-ish Indiana, the other is known locally as 'the Peoples Republic of Boulder' lol.

Uc Boulder Geography

UC Boulder definitely. I went there. UCB is a thousand times more fun and hip and cool than Purdue.

C'mon, where would you rather be for four years: the Colorado Frint Range (called "The Flat Irons") or some cornfield with a basketball court on it in Indiana.

Of the three, Purdue ranks first, U of Colo second and Colo State third.