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Email your professor after a missed midterm and a late notice

  • For College students
  • You practice Giving the right context
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Intermediate

About this exercise

You missed Tuesday's midterm because your grandmother was hospitalized, and it is now 60 hours later, past the syllabus deadline. Write the email you, Jordan Reyes, send to Professor Whitcombe tonight. Plain text, under 110 words. Start with a line "Subject: ...". In the first two sentences, say why you missed the exam and own that your notice is late, without blaming anyone. Say you have her hospital discharge paperwork and can send it tonight. Ask for ONE thing: a make-up midterm. Offer to come to office hours on Monday, 2-4. Leave out the scholarship, your grade worry, any medical details about her, and anything about the TA. No begging, no demands.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Burying the late notice. The AI opens with a long story and skips owning the missed 48-hour window. Try: Add: "In the first two sentences say why I missed the exam and own that my notice is late."
  • Oversharing the emergency. The AI adds the infection, the ER, and how awful the week was, or calls the paperwork a doctor's note. Try: Add: "Say I have her hospital discharge paperwork. No medical details, and don't call it a doctor's note."
  • Guilt and a pile of asks. The AI mentions the scholarship, begs, or offers several options at once. Try: Add: "Ask for one thing: a make-up midterm. Leave out the scholarship and my grade worry. No begging."
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI writes a long email with bold text and bullets. Try: Say "plain text, under 90 words, 5 short sentences".

What a strong prompt includes

  • Says who it is for and what happened
  • Owns the late notice
  • Names the documentation
  • Asks for one specific thing
  • Leaves out what hurts the email

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