I’m considering asking my former teacher who attended Cornell for an optional letter of rec. I plan on applying to Cornell ED. I have only taken a couple classes with them in junior high, not high school (they’re both a junior high and high school teacher), and they are an agriculture teacher (not planning on applying to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; I’m planning on applying to the Hotel School). Any advice whether or not this is a good idea?
I wouldn’t bother. Colleges aren’t interested in what you did in junior high. This teacher can’t provide any information that your high school teachers won’t be able to
provide in their letters. Alumni don’t have much pull unless they are major donors or it is their own children applying. The wrong reviewer might see this as a cheap trick at best, evidence you don’t understand what they’re looking for.
No, a Junior high school teacher in a non-core/non-intended-major course won’t be of value in the admissions process. Probably not any Junior High School teacher, in fact.
The fact that the teacher is a Cornell graduate makes no difference.