{"id":"career-teacher-recommendation-request","audience":"high-school","category":"career","technique":"context","track":"writing","title":"Ask a teacher for a recommendation with a short brag sheet","free":false,"task":"You need a recommendation letter from your chemistry teacher for a summer research program. Get an email under 130 words, plain text: a short ask with the corrected deadline and the submission link, then exactly 3 bullets starting with \"- \" listing things she saw you do in her class. Leave out the activities she never saw, and sign it \"Thank you, Aiden Cole\".","materialLabel":"Your notes and the program info (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"PROGRAM: Summer Science Scholars, Westlake State University\n- 6-week lab research program for rising seniors\n- 1 teacher recommendation, submitted by the teacher at westlake.example/scholars/rec\n- deadline: March 1 -> update email from the program: \"Deadline extended to March 15\"\n\nMY TEACHER: Ms. Haddad, AP Chemistry (I'm in her 3rd period)\n\nTHINGS MS. HADDAD SAW\n- I redid the titration lab on my own lunch period when our first results were off, and figured out the burette was leaking\n- I lead my lab group's write-ups; our group got the top lab average first semester\n- I stayed after school 4 times to help classmates with stoichiometry before the unit test\n\nTHINGS SHE DIDN'T SEE\n- I'm captain of the Quiz Bowl team\n- I volunteer at the animal shelter on weekends\n- I got a 5 on AP Bio last year (different teacher)\n\nNote: ask at least 2 weeks before the deadline. Today is Feb 20.","rules":[{"type":"maxBullets","max":3},{"type":"maxWords","max":130},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Missing the extension","why":"The AI may use March 1, the first date it sees.","fix":"Add: \"The deadline is March 15 (extended).\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Listing everything you've done","why":"The AI includes Quiz Bowl and volunteering, but a teacher can only vouch for what she saw.","fix":"Add: \"Only list things Ms. Haddad saw in chemistry class.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Not saying the shape","why":"The AI writes a long email with a big list or none at all.","fix":"Be exact: \"A 3-sentence ask, then exactly 3 bullets starting with '- '.\"","checks":["maxBullets"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total and it often lands 20% over.","fix":"Cap each part: \"each sentence and bullet under 16 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Leaving the sign-off open","why":"The AI ends with 'Sincerely, [Your Name]' or a placeholder.","fix":"Add: \"End with exactly: Thank you, Aiden Cole\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Forgetting where it's going","why":"AI adds bold and headings that show up as stray symbols in a school email.","fix":"Add: \"Plain text, no bold, no headings.\"","checks":["plainText"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Uses the new deadline","patterns":["march 15","15","extend"]},{"label":"Lists only what she saw","patterns":["only.{0,30}(saw|class|chem)","quiz bowl","she saw"]},{"label":"Says how many bullets","patterns":["\\b(3|three)\\b.{0,25}(bullet|thing|point)","exactly \\d+","numbered"]},{"label":"Gives the sign-off","patterns":["thank you, aiden","sign"]},{"label":"Sets a length limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)","under \\d+"]}],"hint":"Teachers write better letters when you remind them what they saw. Tell the AI the right deadline, which examples count, how many bullets and how to sign off.","rubricLabels":["Gives the deadline as March 15 (not March 1) and includes the westlake.example/scholars/rec link","The 3 bullets cover only things Ms. Haddad saw in chemistry (the titration redo, leading lab write-ups, after-school stoichiometry help) and the email doesn't mention Quiz Bowl, the animal shelter or the AP Bio score","Ends with 'Thank you, Aiden Cole'"]}