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Turn a test center email into a test-day checklist

  • For High school students
  • You practice Asking for a format you can use
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Beginner

About this exercise

Get a checklist of exactly 7 lines, each starting with '- [ ]', ordered from tonight to arrival, under 90 words, plain text, using only the email and its corrected arrival time. Leave out anything the email says not to bring.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Missing the correction. The first arrival time in the email is wrong. Try: Add: "Arrive by 7:30 am, per the correction."
  • Bringing banned items. The AI adds helpful extras like a watch and notes. Try: Add: "Leave out anything the email says not to bring."
  • No checkbox shape. Without the format you get a plain bullet list in random order. Try: Say: "Exactly 7 lines, each starting with - [ ], tonight first."
  • Too many bullets. The AI loves long bullet lists. Try: Say: "At most 7 bullets."
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total and it often lands 20% over. Try: Cap each part: "each line under 12 words."
  • Forgetting where it's going. AI formats for a screen, with bold and headings that show up as stray symbols. Try: Say: "Plain text, no bold, no headings."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Says how many items
  • Gives the checkbox shape
  • Orders by time
  • Uses the corrected time
  • Leaves out banned items

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