Choosing a professor for a LOR

[parukia911]

For one of my letters of recommendations, I was conflicted between two professors and I'm having trouble deciding who to get a letter from.

One is from a quantitative marketing professor that I'm fairly close to/done some work outside of class with/have kept in contact over the past few years, pretty well known in the field (~9k citations), and his course is cross listed as a statistics course. However, although he is well known in quantitative marketing, he doesn't have as much pull in statistics. The other professor is a slightly younger professor (~4k citations) that I haven't really talked to since I took his class, but I took a high level graduate statistics course with him so a letter from himself may have more weight.

In terms of applying to top programs (thinking Stanford, Berk, etc), which letter would be more maximizing for my chances?

[parukia911]

For reference, my other 2 letters are from another statistics professor and a quantitative finance professor.

[theduckster]

Are you applying to PhD or Master's?

If the latter (and you did well in the class), then it might help for the Stats professor to talk about it (though I'm not sure how much that would help since your grade is already there for everyone to see on your transcript).

If PhD programs, definitely go with the quantitative marketing professor. He can speak to your overall character, intellectual curiosity, research habits, etc - all qualities that I would presume are heavily considered during applications.

Regardless of programs, I would personally lean on the former professor than the latter. But go with your gut!

[insert_name_here]

Go with the professor that knows you better. If you just took a class with someone they won't have much to say beyond what's already on your transcript, and those letters don't generally help much