Lor

[victorts]

If we assume that my goal is to recieve strong LORs, which options are better?

1) Take several courses with the same professor (I guess he's well known outside my university, has many publications).
2) Take several courses with an assistant professor (very young, Columbia graduate, several publications after graduation+ she is a coordinator of the research workshops).
3) Take a writing course and try to write something more serious and deeper than other students. And maybe do a couple of guided researches if I impress my professor a little bit .lol.
4) Take a course with a very strong professor with a lot of publications, good reputation in his field.

Options 1 and 2 are unfortunetely mutually exclusive, as well as 3 and 4.

Thanks.

[buckykatt]

A professor's ability to write a good letter of recommendation for you is going to depend on you making the effort to acquaint them with your interests and goals as well as their experience with you in challenging classes. I wouldn't worry too much about whether you take just one class or many classes with them, but instead focus on doing well in a challenging class that interests you and, at the same time, making the professor aware that you're interested in grad school. This will give them a better chance to write a strong, personal letter than if you ask them to write you a recommendation a year later when they may not even remember your name.

So IMHO any of these options can work for you. Also, getting to know "professor #2" seems like a good idea, regardless of whether you take classes with her or not. If you're able to attend the workshops she organizes (and read the papers ahead of time!), and get known to her and others in the department as someone with a serious interest in economics outside of class, that's probably a good idea, too.