{"id":"career-choosing-major-research-questions","audience":"high-school","category":"career","technique":"constraints","track":"writing","title":"List what to research before choosing between two majors","free":false,"task":"You're torn between graphic design and marketing for college. Instead of asking the AI to pick for you, get exactly 5 numbered research questions, each under 20 words, each ending with where you'll find the answer, using exactly one of these labels in brackets: [Counselor], [Catalog], [Professional], [Postings]. Plain text, no recommendation of a major, and skip anything your notes already answer.","materialLabel":"Your notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"MY NOTES (Zoe Adams, 12th grade)\n\nDeciding between: Graphic Design (BFA) or Marketing (BBA) at Westlake State\n\nWhat I already know:\n- Westlake's BFA needs a portfolio review sophomore year. Marketing doesn't.\n- both majors are 4 years / 120 credits\n- I love making posters for Drama Club and I run the club's Instagram\n- my counselor's office has alumni outcome sheets for each Westlake major\n- the course catalog lists required classes for both\n\nWhat I don't know:\n- if I can take design classes as a marketing major (or the other way)\n- what entry-level designers vs marketers actually do all day\n- if job postings for designers want a BFA or just a portfolio\n- my cousin says designers \"make no money\" -> no idea if that's true, don't trust it\n- whether I can switch majors later without losing a year","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":5},{"type":"maxWords","max":130},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Asking the AI to decide","why":"Ask 'should I major in X or Y' and the AI picks for you based on almost nothing it knows about you.","fix":"Ask for questions to research, and add: \"Don't recommend a major.\"","checks":["r2","r1"]},{"title":"Not saying where to look","why":"The AI lists questions with no next step, so the list sits in your notes app.","fix":"Add: \"End each question with [Counselor], [Catalog], [Professional] or [Postings].\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Getting a long list","why":"AI lists come as 10 to 15 questions under headings.","fix":"Be exact: \"Exactly 5 numbered questions, each under 20 words.\"","checks":["numberedItems","maxWords"]},{"title":"Forgetting where it's going","why":"AI adds bold and headings that show up as stray symbols in your notes app.","fix":"Add: \"Plain text, no bold, no headings.\"","checks":["plainText"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Says how many questions","patterns":["\\b(5|five)\\b.{0,25}(question)","exactly \\d+","numbered"]},{"label":"Gives the source labels","patterns":["counselor","catalog","job postings","label"]},{"label":"Says not to pick for you","patterns":["(don't|do not|no).{0,20}(recommend|pick|choose|decide)"]},{"label":"Skips what you know","patterns":["already (know|answer)","skip"]},{"label":"Sets a length limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)","under \\d+"]}],"hint":"The AI can't know which major fits you, but it can help you find out. Ask for research questions, give the exact labels for where to look, and tell it not to pick.","rubricLabels":["Every question ends with exactly one of these bracketed labels: [Counselor], [Catalog], [Professional], [Postings]","Doesn't recommend or lean toward either major, and doesn't state as fact what designers or marketers earn","No question asks something the notes already answer (the BFA portfolio review, the 4 years or 120 credits)"]}