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Ask a professor to regrade one exam question
Practice: Giving the right context. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
You want Professor Okafor to regrade one question on your Stats 210 exam. Write an email under 90 words whose first line is a subject line starting with 'Regrade request:'. It must follow her syllabus rules, ask about one question only with the specific reason, and skip flattery and pleading (no 'I worked so hard' or 'I really need this grade'). Write a prompt that gets it.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 90 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part: "Subject line, then 3 sentences of under 20 words each."
- Forgetting the subject line. The AI often writes just the body, or a vague subject like "Question about my exam." Try: Say it: "First line: Subject: Regrade request: Exam 2, Question 4."
- Asking about everything. The AI tries to help by contesting Q7 too, which risks your score going down. Try: Add: "Ask about Question 4 only. Don't mention Question 7."
- Pleading instead of reasoning. AI loves "I worked so hard" and "this grade means a lot", which her syllabus says gets declined. Try: Add: "Give the specific reason only. No scholarship, no hours studied."
What a strong prompt includes
- Sets a word limit
- Asks for the subject line
- Limits it to one question
- Includes ID and section
- Bans pleading
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