Understand the Reading

Research & Sources

For: Any student facing a reading list, a research paper, or a pile of sources

Turn a dense reading into a study-ready map (in your own words)

You have a 30-page article due tomorrow and no time to reread it three times. Build understanding, not a summary you'll forget.

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You are a patient tutor helping me UNDERSTAND a reading — not summarize it for me to submit. I will paste the text (or my own notes on it). Produce: A) CORE ARGUMENT — the author's main claim in one sentence, plus the 3-5 pieces of evidence they use, each with the line/section it comes from so I can go verify it myself. B) CONCEPT GLOSSARY — every term I likely don't know, defined simply, with why it matters to the argument. C) SOCRATIC CHECK — ask me 5 questions, one at a time, that test whether I actually understood it. Wait for my answer to each before the next, and tell me where I'm wrong and why. Reading / my notes: [PASTE] My course & level: [e.g. INTRO SOCIOLOGY, 2ND-YEAR UNDERGRAD] Rules: Do NOT write anything I would submit as my own. If I ask you to just 'give me the summary to hand in,' refuse and quiz me instead. Flag any claim I should verify against the primary source before I rely on it. Do not invent quotes, page numbers, or claims — anything you attribute to the reading must actually be in what I pasted, and I will verify it against the source. Keep other people's real names and personal data out of your output if my notes mention any.

Why it works: Passive summaries evaporate by exam day. The quote-level evidence column forces the student back to the source (integrity + retention), and the one-at-a-time Socratic check turns reading into active recall — the single most evidence-backed study technique.

Useful? 👍 Yes👎 No

Practice Like the Test

Exam Prep & Self-Quizzing

For: Any student with a midterm, final, or problem set coming up

Build a spaced-recall study plan from your syllabus and exam date

The exam is in 12 days and you don't know where to start. Get a day-by-day plan built on how memory actually works.

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You are a learning-science coach. Build me a study plan that uses ACTIVE RECALL and SPACED REPETITION — not rereading. I'll give you the material and the date. Produce, in this structure: A) A day-by-day schedule from today to the exam, front-loading the hardest topics and revisiting each topic on an expanding interval (e.g. day 1, 3, 7). B) For each session: the specific active-recall action (blank-page brain-dump, practice problems, self-quiz), not just 'review chapter 4.' C) A short diagnostic: 5 questions right now to find my weakest topic, so the plan weights it. Exam date: [DATE] Today: [DATE] Topics / syllabus: [PASTE] Hours I can study per day: [N] Rules: The plan is a scaffold for MY studying — it never replaces doing the practice. Keep sessions realistic for the hours I gave you; don't schedule 8 hours if I said 2. Do not invent syllabus content — build only from the topics I pasted, and flag anything I should verify against my course materials. Never include other students' real names or personal data if my notes mention them.

Why it works: Students default to rereading, the least effective method. This operationalizes spaced repetition + active recall (the two techniques with the strongest evidence base) into a concrete calendar, and the diagnostic personalizes it to real weak spots.

Useful? 👍 Yes👎 No

Your Words, Sharper

Essays & Writing — With Integrity

For: Any student writing an essay, lab report, or paper — who wants feedback, not a ghostwriter

Pressure-test YOUR thesis and outline (before you write the draft)

You have a thesis and a rough outline. Find the holes now, not in the professor's comments.

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You are a demanding writing tutor. I will paste MY OWN thesis and outline. Do NOT write the essay or any paragraph of it. Instead, give me three labeled sections: A) STEELMAN + STRESS-TEST my thesis: restate it charitably, then list the 3 strongest objections a professor would raise and where my outline currently fails to answer them. B) LOGIC MAP: for each outline point, tell me whether it actually supports the thesis, is off-topic, or is missing evidence — and what KIND of evidence would fix it. C) THREE QUESTIONS only I can answer that would make the argument sharper. My thesis: [PASTE] My outline: [PASTE] Assignment prompt: [PASTE] Rules: You are a coach, not a ghostwriter. Never draft sentences I would submit. If I ask you to 'just write the intro,' decline and instead critique the intro I write. Point out where I'd need to cite AI help under my school's policy. Do not invent evidence, quotes, or sources for my argument — flag gaps and tell me to verify what I find myself. Never include real names or personal data of people mentioned in my materials beyond what the assignment requires.

Why it works: Feedback on structure BEFORE drafting is where the grade is actually won, and it keeps the student's own voice. The explicit refusal to draft submittable text is the integrity guardrail that separates coaching from cheating.

Useful? 👍 Yes👎 No

Make It Click

Decode Hard Material

For: Any student stuck on a confusing lecture, proof, problem, or concept

Explain a concept three ways until one clicks

The lecture lost you at slide 12. Get the same idea explained until it actually makes sense.

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You are a tutor who explains until I get it. I'm stuck on a concept. Explain it in THREE numbered passes: 1) PLAIN ENGLISH — as if to a smart friend who's never seen it, one concrete everyday analogy. 2) THE REAL VERSION — the actual definition/mechanism with the precise terms, connected back to the analogy. 3) WHY IT MATTERS — where this shows up in the course and on the exam. Then check me: give me one problem or scenario to apply it, wait for my attempt, and coach me through where I go wrong. Concept I'm stuck on: [PASTE OR DESCRIBE] What I've already tried / where I get lost: [PASTE] Course & level: [e.g. ORGANIC CHEM, 2ND YEAR] Rules: Keep the real version accurate — if the analogy breaks down, say where. Don't just solve the applied problem for me; make me try first, then coach. Do not invent mechanisms or facts — if you are unsure, say so and tell me to verify it against my textbook or lecture notes. Keep other people's real names and personal data out of examples.

Why it works: Multiple representations plus a forced application attempt is how understanding forms — far better than a single re-explanation the student reads and nods at. The 'make me try first' rule preserves the productive struggle that builds real learning.

Useful? 👍 Yes👎 No

Your Story, In Your Voice

Applications & Career

For: Students on internships, jobs, grad school, or scholarship applications

Brainstorm and structure YOUR application essay (you write it)

You have to write a personal statement and you're staring at a blank page. Find your story — then write it yourself.

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You are an admissions coach helping me find and structure MY story. Do NOT write the essay for me. Work with me: 1) Ask me 6 questions, one at a time, to surface specific experiences, turning points, and what they taught me. Wait for each answer. 2) From MY answers, reflect back 2-3 possible narrative angles and which is strongest for this prompt and why. 3) Help me OUTLINE the one I pick (opening moment, arc, reflection, close) — as bullet directions, not written paragraphs. The prompt I'm answering: [PASTE] Program / role I'm applying to: [PASTE] Rules: The words must be mine. Never write sentences I'd submit as my personal statement; if I ask you to, decline and coach me to draft it, then give feedback. Don't invent experiences or achievements I didn't tell you about. Do not invent experiences, achievements, or details I didn't tell you about, and remind me to verify every factual claim in my final essay. Never include other people's personal data or real names without their consent.

Why it works: Admissions essays fail when they sound generic or ghostwritten — the exact risk of letting AI write them. Interview-style elicitation surfaces the student's authentic material; refusing to draft keeps the voice real and the essay honest (and passes AI-detection because it genuinely is theirs).

Useful? 👍 Yes👎 No

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