tl;dr - Addie Prompting Quick Start Guide
📌 Addie Prompting Quick Start Guide
1️⃣ What is a Prompt?
A prompt is an instruction you give Addie to extract student-specific insights from teacher comments, counselor notes, and student conversations.
Key Rules for Crafting Prompts:
✅ Be clear & specific – Define exactly what you need.
✅ Require verbatim quotes – Ensure accuracy by using direct teacher or counselor feedback.
✅ Use structured thinking – Guide Addie through step-by-step logic.
✅ Prevent hallucinations – Establish fallbacks when data is missing.
2️⃣ The Essential Prompt Template
💡 "Perform [task] based on [data source]. Structure the response as [desired format] and ensure all claims are supported by direct evidence. Use verbatim quotes with source attribution (teacher name, subject, and course grade). If no relevant information is available, state: '[Fallback response].' If applicable, think from the perspective of [expert role]."📍
Example Customizable Prompts:
🔹 Academic Strengths Assessment
"Summarize this student's academic strengths using direct teacher comments. Provide verbatim quotes and categorize by subject. If no strengths are mentioned, state: 'No academic strengths recorded in teacher notes.'”
🔹 College Fit Exploration
"Analyze this student’s learning style, academic strengths, and extracurricular activities. Identify five types of colleges where they would thrive, with 10 school recommendations per category. Justify each choice using direct evidence. If no relevant data exists, state: 'No specific college fit information recorded.'"
🔹 Scholarship Eligibility Review
"Assess this student’s eligibility for merit-based scholarships based on academic performance and extracurricular involvement. Provide supporting evidence from teacher and counselor comments. If no relevant data exists, state: 'No scholarship-related data recorded in student notes.'"
3️⃣ Best Practices for Crafting Effective Prompts
📌 Use step-by-step logic – Break complex requests into smaller parts.
📌 Ask Addie to verify its own responses – Ensure insights are backed by verbatim quotes.
📌 Use role-based reasoning – Ask Addie to think like a college admissions officer or financial aid advisor for more specialized answers.
📌 Look for trends, not just facts – Have Addie identify patterns in a student’s progress over time.
📌 Apply conditional logic – Adjust responses based on specific criteria (e.g., "If the student excels in STEM, suggest STEM-focused schools; otherwise, suggest liberal arts schools").
4️⃣ Common Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them
🚨 Vague Prompts: Avoid: "Tell me about this student." →
✅ Use: "Summarize this student's academic strengths with direct teacher quotes."
🚨 Leading Questions: Avoid: "Why is this student a top candidate for Ivy League schools?" →
✅ Use: "Identify the types of colleges where this student would thrive, supported by direct teacher quotes."
🚨 Overloading a Single Prompt: Avoid: "List strengths, weaknesses, extracurriculars, and best college fits." →
✅ Use separate prompts for each category.
🚨 Lack of Fallbacks: Avoid: "What clubs does this student participate in?" →
✅ Use: "List extracurriculars based on teacher and counselor notes. If no activities are mentioned, state: 'No extracurricular activities recorded.'”
5️⃣ Quick Summary: How to Get the Best Responses from Addie
✅ Start with a clear, structured prompt – Define exactly what you need.
✅ Use verbatim quotes – Ensure every insight is backed by direct feedback.
✅ Break down complex prompts into smaller steps – Guide Addie through a logical process.
✅ Require multiple perspectives – Ask Addie to compare teacher feedback, student reflections, and counselor insights.
✅ Use fallback instructions – Ensure Addie does not assume information when data is missing.
6️⃣ Where Do I Enter My Prompt?
Enter it directly into the chat window for each student. (See screenshot above.)
By following this Quick Start Guide, counselors can quickly create effective prompts and receive accurate, student-specific insights from Addie. 🚀
Read the rest of this guide for a deeper dive into prompting Addie.
1. Introduction
Welcome to the Addie Prompting Guide
Addie is designed to assist college counselors by providing personalized insights into students’ academic progress, extracurricular activities, and overall development. By leveraging teacher comments, student conversations, and counselor notes, Addie can surface key themes, trends, and recommendations to support students in their college admissions journey.
While Addie includes pre-built prompts to streamline common tasks, this guide is designed to empower you—the college counselor—to craft your own prompts tailored to specific situations, ensuring you extract the most relevant and meaningful insights from the available data.
Who Is This Guide For?
This guide is intended for college counselors who want to:
✅ Explore deeper insights beyond pre-set prompts.
✅ Customize Addie’s responses to match individual student needs.
✅ Use targeted questioning to uncover themes in student data.Ensure that counseling conversations are informed by accurate, relevant, and structured information.
What Will You Learn?
Through this guide, you will:
✅ Understand how Addie processes and retrieves data.
✅ Learn best practices for crafting clear, structured, and effective prompts.
✅ Discover how to use verbatim quotes from students and teachers to back up responses.
✅ Implement safeguards to prevent AI hallucinations and misinformation.
✅ Master advanced prompting techniques to refine and optimize results.
How to Use This Guide
Each section of this guide builds on the last, starting with the fundamentals of good prompting and advancing to structured strategies for complex queries. You can use this as a step-by-step manual or as a quick reference whenever you need to refine your prompts for better insights.
By the end of this guide, you will be equipped with the skills to confidently interact with Addie, ensuring that you receive accurate, data-driven, and student-specific insights to guide your counseling sessions effectively.
Let’s get started! 🚀
2. Understanding Prompts
What is a Prompt?
A prompt is a set of instructions or a question given to Addie to guide its response. Prompts help Addie extract relevant information from student conversations, teacher comments, and counselor notes, providing insights tailored to the needs of college counselors.
When structured effectively, a good prompt ensures Addie delivers accurate, meaningful, and context-aware responses, making it a powerful tool in student advising.
How Prompts Work in Addie
When a counselor submits a prompt, Addie processes it by:
✅ Identifying the request’s intent (e.g., retrieving academic strengths, assessing college fit, summarizing extracurricular involvement).
✅ Extracting relevant data from teacher comments, student conversations, and counselor notes.
✅ Generating a response that is structured, factual, and backed by direct sources.
Examples of Prompts and Their Outcomes
Example 1: Extracting Academic Strengths
Prompt:
"What are this student's academic strengths? Provide verbatim teacher quotes to support each strength."
Outcome:
✅ Addie retrieves direct quotes from teachers highlighting the student’s academic strengths, ensuring responses are fact-based and specific.
✅ Example response:
Mathematics: "Ava presents thorough and well-structured proofs and demonstrates strong problem-solving skills." – John Platt, Mathematics, Grade: A
English: "Ava is a sophisticated writer who integrates deep analysis into her work." – Rachel Maiorano, English, Grade: A
Example 2: Exploring College Fit
Prompt:
"Based on teacher feedback, what types of colleges would be a good fit for this student? Provide 10 specific schools that align with their strengths and explain why."
Outcome:
✅ Addie categorizes academic strengths, learning preferences, and extracurricular activities to suggest types of colleges that align with the student’s profile.
✅ Example response:
Liberal Arts Colleges (for strong writing and discussion-based learning)
Why it fits: "Ava thrives in discussion-based environments and enjoys deep literary analysis.
Top Schools: Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, Pomona, Haverford, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Carleton, Wesleyan, Vassar
Example 3: Identifying Areas for Growth
Prompt:
"What challenges has this student faced academically? Use only direct teacher quotes, and summarize trends."
Outcome:
✅ Addie extracts verbatim quotes from teachers describing the student’s challenges, ensuring insights are factual.
✅ Example response:
Science: "Ava sometimes struggles with lab work and applying theoretical concepts in experiments." – Caryn Smith, Science, Grade: B
Time Management: "Ava’s assignments are always strong, but she occasionally misses deadlines." – Amanda Jones, Advisory
Key Takeaways
📌 Well-crafted prompts lead to more useful insights.
📌 Prompts should be clear, specific, and instruct Addie to use direct evidence.
📌 The more structured the prompt, the more structured the response.
As we move forward, the next section will cover best practices for crafting effective prompts, ensuring you get the most meaningful responses from Addie. 🚀
3. Key Elements of an Effective Prompt
Creating effective prompts is essential for getting the best responses from Addie. A well-structured prompt ensures that Addie retrieves relevant, factual, and structured insights while aligning responses with the needs of college counselors.
The following key elements will help you craft clear, specific, and useful prompts when working with Addie.
1️⃣ Clarity: Ensure the Prompt is Clear and Unambiguous
Why it matters:
If a prompt is too vague or open-ended, Addie may provide a broad or less relevant response. The clearer the request, the more precise the results.
Example of a vague prompt:
"Tell me about this student."
🚨 Issue: Addie does not know whether to focus on academic strengths, extracurriculars, challenges, or social fit.
✅ Improved prompt:
"Summarize this student's academic strengths based on direct teacher comments. Use verbatim quotes and cite the teacher’s name, subject, and the student’s grade in each course."
✨ Why this works:
The focus is on academic strengths.The data source (teacher comments) is specified.The response format (verbatim quotes with citations) is required.
2️⃣ Specificity: Provide Detailed Instructions to Guide Addie
Why it matters:
The more precise the prompt, the more targeted and useful the response.
Example of an unspecific prompt:
"What colleges should this student apply to?"
🚨 Issue: Addie does not know which factors to consider—academic strengths, extracurriculars, social fit, or affordability.
✅ Improved prompt:
"Based on this student's academic strengths, learning preferences, and extracurricular involvement, suggest five types of colleges that would be a strong fit. For each type, provide 10 specific schools with explanations supported by verbatim teacher comments."
✨ Why this works:
It clarifies decision factors (academics, learning style, extracurriculars).It requires direct evidence from teacher comments.It specifies output structure (five types, 10 schools per type).
3️⃣ Context: Offer Background Information to Help Addie Understand the Request
Why it matters:
If a prompt lacks context, Addie may generate responses that miss important nuances about the student.
Example of a prompt missing context:
"How can this student improve in math?"
🚨 Issue: Addie does not know if the student struggles with problem-solving, test-taking, or foundational concepts.
✅ Improved prompt:
"Identify this student's challenges in mathematics based on teacher feedback. Use verbatim quotes and categorize challenges by conceptual understanding, problem-solving, test-taking, and homework completion. Summarize trends and suggest next steps."
✨ Why this works:
The context is clear (math struggles).The response structure is defined (categories + direct quotes).The desired insight (challenges + trends + next steps) is included.
4️⃣ Desired Outcome: State What You Expect from Addie’s Response
Why it matters:
By specifying the expected outcome, you guide Addie’s reasoning and ensure that responses are structured and actionable.
Example of a prompt without a defined outcome:
"Tell me about this student’s extracurriculars."
🚨 Issue: Does the counselor need a summary, a ranked list, a breakdown by leadership level, or an assessment of fit with colleges?
✅ Improved prompt:
"Summarize this student's extracurricular involvement based on teacher and counselor notes. Categorize activities by leadership, community service, and creative pursuits. Include verbatim quotes and assess which activities align with college admissions priorities."
✨ Why this works:
The desired outcome is clear (a categorized breakdown).The data sources (teacher and counselor notes) are specified.
The evaluation criteria (college admissions priorities) are included.
5️⃣ Using Role-Based Prompting & Theory of Mind
Why it matters:
Addie can simulate different expert perspectives to tailor responses based on who is "analyzing" the data. This is called Theory of Mind—the ability to understand different viewpoints and process information as a specific persona.
Example of a prompt without a role:
"What extracurricular activities are most important for this student?"
✅ Improved prompt with role-based reasoning:
"Act as a college admissions officer evaluating this student’s extracurricular profile. Based on teacher and counselor notes, identify which activities demonstrate leadership, commitment, and uniqueness. Provide verbatim supporting quotes and assess how these activities would be viewed in the admissions process."
✨ Why this works:
Role-based perspective (admissions officer).
Specific evaluation criteria (leadership, commitment, uniqueness).
Verbatim evidence required (ensuring factual accuracy).
Other Role-Based Prompt Examples:"As a financial aid advisor, assess whether this student would qualify for merit-based scholarships based on academic performance and extracurricular involvement.""As a college coach, suggest how this student can strengthen their application over the next year based on teacher feedback.""As a career counselor, identify potential career paths for this student based on their academic interests and strengths."
Key Takeaways
📌 Be Clear: Define the focus of the prompt to prevent vague responses.
📌 Be Specific: Include precise instructions and structure expectations.
📌 Provide Context: Help Addie understand the background of the request.
📌 Define the Outcome: Clearly state what kind of response you need.
📌 Use Role-Based Prompting: Leverage expert perspectives for richer insights.
By applying these principles, counselors can craft prompts that unlock deeper insights, ensuring that Addie provides the most relevant, fact-based, and personalized responses to support students in their college admissions journey. 🚀
4. Best Practices for Crafting Prompts
Now that we’ve covered the key elements of an effective prompt, this section focuses on best practices for writing prompts that maximize Addie’s ability to generate accurate, structured, and student-specific insights.
When prompting Addie, the goal is to ask the right questions in the right way so that you receive responses that are:
✅ Clear – Focused on a specific request.
✅ Data-Driven – Supported by verbatim quotes from teacher and counselor comments.
✅ Actionable – Structured in a way that helps you use the insights in conversations with students.
1️⃣ Set Clear Expectations for the Response
Why it matters:
Addie needs to know exactly what kind of answer you’re looking for to generate the most useful response.
How to do this:
Define the structure – Should Addie provide a summary, list, comparison, or ranking?
Specify sources – Should the response be based on teacher comments, counselor notes, or student reflections?
Include format instructions – Should the output be in bullet points, tables, or paragraph form?
Example:
🚫 Vague Prompt: "Tell me about this student’s leadership skills."
✅ Improved Prompt: "Summarize this student's leadership experiences based on teacher and counselor feedback. Categorize leadership into academic, extracurricular, and community service, using direct quotes to support each category."
✨ Why this works:
Clarifies the focus (leadership across multiple areas).
Ensures accuracy (requires direct quotes).
Defines response structure (categorized breakdown).
2️⃣ Use Step-by-Step (Sequential) Prompting
Why it matters:
Some insights require Addie to reason through multiple layers of data before producing an answer. If a question is too broad, breaking it into smaller, step-by-step queries improves accuracy.
How to do this:
Ask for data extraction first, then analysis.
Break complex requests into stages.
Use follow-up prompts to refine answers.
Example:
🚫 Broad Prompt: "What type of college is the best fit for this student?"
✅ Step-by-Step Approach:
"List this student’s academic strengths using direct teacher quotes.""Summarize this student’s learning style based on teacher and counselor comments.""Based on the student's academic strengths and learning style, suggest five types of colleges they should explore, with direct evidence supporting each recommendation."
✨ Why this works:
Ensures accuracy by extracting raw insights first.Breaks down reasoning instead of forcing Addie to infer too much at once.Allows adjustments before final recommendations are made.
3️⃣ Incorporate Fallbacks to Prevent Hallucinations
Why it matters:
AI models, including Addie, should never fabricate data. To prevent misleading information, prompts should require verbatim citations and provide fallback responses when data is unavailable.
How to do this:
Require citations – Ensure every claim is backed by direct teacher or counselor feedback.Use "If no data is found…" conditions – Provide guidance on what Addie should say when information is missing.
Example:
🚫 Risky Prompt: "What extracurriculars does this student participate in?"
✅ Improved Prompt with Fallbacks: "List this student's extracurricular activities based on direct teacher and counselor comments. If no activities are mentioned, state: 'No extracurricular activities recorded in teacher or counselor notes.' Do not infer or assume participation."
✨ Why this works:
Prevents AI-generated assumptions.Ensures responses are grounded in real data.Gives counselors transparency when data is missing.
4️⃣ Use Context to Make Prompts More Effective
Why it matters:
Providing additional context helps Addie generate more personalized and relevant responses.
How to do this:
Include background details about the student (e.g., grade level, specific challenges).Reference past performance if applicable.Indicate the intended use of the response (e.g., for college selection, advising sessions, essay brainstorming).
Example:
🚫 Basic Prompt: "Summarize this student's academic strengths."
✅ Context-Rich Prompt: "Summarize this 11th-grade student's academic strengths based on teacher comments. Prioritize subjects where they have demonstrated growth, strong engagement, or leadership. Provide direct quotes and indicate whether these strengths align with potential college majors."
✨ Why this works:
Adds specificity (11th grade, growth areas, leadership).Clarifies purpose (helping with college major selection).Ensures data accuracy (requires direct quotes).
5️⃣ Craft Prompts That Align with Counselor-Student Conversations
Why it matters:
Your goal is to use Addie’s responses to support real conversations with students. Prompts should generate insights that are actionable, discussion-friendly, and student-specific.
How to do this:
Phrase prompts in a way that anticipates student discussions.Request insights in a format that can be shared or adapted easily.
Example:
🚫 Generic Prompt: "What are this student's strengths?"
✅ Counselor-Friendly Prompt: "Summarize this student’s top three strengths using teacher and counselor feedback. Provide verbatim supporting quotes, then suggest two open-ended questions a counselor could ask the student to reflect on these strengths."
✨ Why this works:
Creates a structured response that’s useful in a conversation.Encourages student reflection (adds open-ended questions).Keeps insights actionable for counseling sessions.
Key Takeaways
📌 Set Clear Expectations – Define structure, sources, and format upfront.
📌 Use Step-by-Step Prompting – Break complex requests into manageable parts.
📌 Establish Fallbacks – Prevent hallucinations by requiring direct quotes and defining “no data found” responses.
📌 Provide Context – Add relevant student background for more precise insights.
📌 Align with Conversations – Make prompts useful for real student discussions.
By following these best practices, counselors can unlock deeper insights and ensure that Addie provides the most reliable, student-specific, and actionable responses for college advising. 🚀
5. Strategies to Prevent AI Hallucinations
What Are AI Hallucinations?
AI hallucinations occur when an AI generates incorrect, misleading, or fabricated information due to gaps in data, ambiguous prompts, or overgeneralization. In a college counseling context, this can result in:
🚨 Inaccurate student assessments (e.g., falsely identifying strengths or weaknesses).
🚨 Misattributed teacher quotes (e.g., attributing a comment to the wrong teacher).
🚨 Unverified college recommendations (e.g., suggesting a school based on faulty logic).
To ensure accuracy, reliability, and transparency, Addie is designed to ONLY provide insights backed by direct teacher and counselor quotes, student conversations, and factual data. However, how you craft your prompts plays a crucial role in preventing hallucinations.
1️⃣ Require Verbatim Quotes & Source Citations
Why it matters:
Ensuring that all claims are supported by direct teacher or counselor feedback prevents the AI from making assumptions or filling in gaps with fabricated data.
How to do this:
Explicitly require direct quotes in the prompt.Ask for teacher name, subject, and the student’s grade alongside each quote.Define a fallback if no quotes exist.
Example:
🚫 Risky Prompt: "What are this student's leadership qualities?"
✅ Safe Prompt: "List this student’s leadership qualities based on direct teacher and counselor feedback. Include verbatim quotes with teacher name, subject, and course grade. If no leadership traits are mentioned, state: 'No leadership feedback recorded in teacher or counselor notes.' Do not infer or assume leadership skills."
✨ Why this works:
✅ Prevents Addie from inventing leadership traits.
✅ Ensures transparency by citing sources.
✅ Adds a fallback when data is missing.
2️⃣ Establish Fallbacks for Missing Information
Why it matters:
If Addie doesn’t have sufficient data, it should return a transparent response instead of making assumptions.
How to do this:
Tell Addie what to say if no data is available.Use neutral wording to acknowledge missing information.Never allow open-ended inference.
Example:
🚫 Risky Prompt: "What major should this student pursue?"
✅ Safe Prompt with Fallback: "Based on direct teacher and counselor feedback, list potential college majors that align with this student’s academic strengths. Use verbatim quotes and explain how each major connects to their strengths. If no direct guidance is available, state: 'No specific major recommendations found in student records.'"
✨ Why this works:
✅ Ensures only factual recommendations based on real feedback.
✅ Prevents Addie from guessing a major.
✅ Gives the counselor full visibility into data limitations.
3️⃣ Ask for Step-by-Step Reasoning
Why it matters:
AI is more accurate when it follows structured reasoning rather than jumping to conclusions.
How to do this:
Use Chain-of-Thought prompting (step-by-step analysis before conclusion).
Request an evidence-first response before a final answer.
Example:
🚫 Risky Prompt: "What colleges should this student apply to?"
✅ Safe Prompt with Structured Reasoning:
1️⃣ "List this student’s academic strengths using direct teacher quotes."
2️⃣ "Summarize this student’s learning style based on counselor feedback."
3️⃣ "Based on the insights above, suggest five types of colleges that align with this student’s strengths. Include 10 school recommendations per category and justify each choice with supporting evidence."
✨ Why this works:
✅ Ensures Addie builds logic before making recommendations.
✅ Prevents oversimplified or incorrect school suggestions.
✅ Produces a well-supported and structured response.
4️⃣ Avoid Leading or Assumptive Prompts
Why it matters:
Leading prompts introduce bias and may cause Addie to affirm incorrect assumptions.
How to do this:
Use open-ended language instead of assuming traits.Phrase prompts neutrally to let the AI assess data objectively.
Example:
🚫 Leading Prompt: "What makes this student a great candidate for Ivy League schools?"
✅ Neutral Prompt: "Based on this student’s academic performance, learning style, and extracurricular profile, identify the types of colleges where they are most likely to thrive. Provide verbatim supporting quotes."
✨ Why this works:
✅ Prevents assumptions about Ivy League fit.
✅ Allows Addie to consider a range of options.
✅ Ensures data-driven recommendations.
5️⃣ Use Cross-Checking to Validate Information
Why it matters:
If Addie is analyzing multiple sources of data, requesting cross-validation ensures accuracy across different inputs.
How to do this:
Ask Addie to compare different data sources before responding.Require confirmation from multiple teacher comments.
Example:
🚫 Risky Prompt: "What subjects is this student strongest in?"
✅ Cross-Checked Prompt: "Identify this student’s strongest subjects based on teacher comments. A subject should only be listed if it is mentioned by two or more teachers. Provide direct supporting quotes from each teacher."
✨ Why this works:
✅ Prevents over-reliance on a single source.
✅ Ensures consistency across teacher feedback.
✅ Strengthens confidence in the response.
Key Takeaways
📌 Require Verbatim Quotes & Citations – Never let Addie infer or assume insights.
📌 Establish Fallbacks – Ensure Addie transparently acknowledges missing data.
📌 Use Step-by-Step Reasoning – Guide Addie through structured logic.
📌 Avoid Leading Prompts – Use neutral phrasing to get unbiased results.
📌 Request Cross-Checking – Validate insights using multiple data points.
By applying these strategies, counselors can ensure fact-based, structured, and student-specific responses, preventing AI hallucinations while making the most of Addie’s capabilities. 🚀
6. Structured Thinking Techniques
Why Structured Thinking Matters
Structured thinking helps Addie process information in a logical, step-by-step manner, leading to more accurate, reliable, and insightful responses. Instead of generating broad or vague answers, structured prompts guide Addie through critical reasoning, ensuring responses are backed by evidence and aligned with the student’s profile.
The following structured thinking techniques will help you craft prompts that improve the quality, depth, and precision of Addie’s responses.
1️⃣ Chain-of-Thought Prompting: Breaking Down Complex Queries
Why it matters:
Addie performs better when it thinks through a problem before reaching a conclusion. Chain-of-Thought (CoT) prompting breaks a complex request into logical steps, helping Addie generate well-reasoned, evidence-based answers.
How to use it:
Ask Addie to analyze specific aspects first, then synthesize the insights.Request a step-by-step breakdown before providing final recommendations.
Example:
🚫 Broad Prompt: "What kind of college is the best fit for this student?"
✅ Chain-of-Thought Prompt:
1️⃣ "Summarize this student’s academic strengths using direct teacher quotes."
2️⃣ "Identify this student’s learning preferences based on teacher and counselor feedback."
3️⃣ "List this student’s extracurricular activities and leadership experiences with verbatim supporting evidence."
4️⃣ "Based on the insights above, suggest three types of colleges where this student would thrive, with 10 school recommendations per category and justifications for each."
✨ Why this works:
✅ Ensures logical reasoning by breaking the question into parts.
✅ Prevents oversimplification by building insights progressively.
✅ Reduces hallucinations by grounding recommendations in step-by-step analysis.
2️⃣ Self-Consistency Prompting: Generating Multiple Responses & Comparing Results
Why it matters:
Instead of generating a single response, Self-Consistency prompting asks Addie to produce multiple reasoning paths, then select the most supported conclusion based on the data.
How to use it:
Ask Addie to generate multiple answers and compare them.Have Addie rank or evaluate different insights based on supporting evidence.
Example:
🚫 Standard Prompt: "What is this student’s strongest subject?"
✅ Self-Consistency Prompt:
"Generate three possible interpretations of this student’s academic strengths using teacher comments. Compare them and determine which is most supported by evidence. Rank subjects from strongest to weakest, including verbatim quotes for each."
✨ Why this works:
✅ Reduces bias by generating multiple perspectives.
✅ Enhances reliability by selecting the most supported response.
✅ Creates a structured ranking to guide counselor discussions.
3️⃣ ReAct (Reasoning and Acting): Justifying Decisions with Evidence
Why it matters:
The ReAct method ensures Addie doesn’t just answer questions—it explains how it reached its conclusions. This prevents misleading responses by requiring explicit reasoning for every claim.
How to use it:
Ask Addie to state its reasoning process before delivering an answer.Require Addie to justify every insight with direct evidence.
Example:
🚫 Basic Prompt: "What extracurriculars will help this student’s college applications?"
✅ ReAct Prompt:
"Identify this student’s extracurricular activities based on teacher and counselor notes. For each activity, explain why it strengthens their college application, using direct supporting quotes. Categorize activities as leadership, community service, or passion-driven."
✨ Why this works:
✅ Forces Addie to explain its reasoning rather than assuming.
✅ Strengthens responses with logical analysis and evidence.
✅ Prepares a structured output for counselor discussions.
4️⃣ Role-Based Reasoning: Adopting an Expert Perspective
Why it matters:
Addie can simulate different expert perspectives (e.g., admissions officer, college counselor, financial aid advisor) to approach a problem from the right lens.
How to use it:
Define who Addie is acting as in the prompt.Tailor the response to match that expert’s perspective.
Example:
🚫 Generic Prompt: "Which colleges should this student consider?"
✅ Role-Based Prompt:
"Act as a college admissions officer evaluating this student’s profile. Based on academic performance, extracurriculars, and teacher feedback, identify the types of colleges where they would be a strong applicant. Provide verbatim supporting quotes and explain why each school type aligns with their strengths."
✨ Why this works:
✅ Refines the response based on the correct perspective.
✅ Ensures admissions-relevant insights rather than generalizations.
✅ Creates counselor-friendly answers useful for advising discussions.
5️⃣ Dual-Perspective Prompting: Comparing Insights from Different Viewpoints
Why it matters:
Sometimes, understanding a student’s profile requires more than one perspective. Dual-Perspective prompting asks Addie to generate insights from multiple viewpoints to give a more well-rounded response.
How to use it:
Have Addie compare perspectives (e.g., student vs. teacher, academic vs. extracurricular strengths).Request side-by-side analysis to highlight differences.
Example:
🚫 Single Perspective Prompt: "What are this student’s strengths?"
✅ Dual-Perspective Prompt:
"Compare how this student describes their own strengths versus how teachers describe them. Identify key overlaps and differences using verbatim quotes from both sources."
✨ Why this works:
✅ Reveals gaps between student self-perception and teacher feedback.
✅ Helps counselors guide students in self-awareness and goal-setting.
✅ Creates a balanced view to refine college planning strategies.
Key Takeaways
📌 Use Chain-of-Thought Prompting – Guide Addie step-by-step for more logical answers.
📌 Apply Self-Consistency – Generate multiple interpretations and compare results.
📌 Use ReAct (Reasoning and Acting) – Require Addie to explain its logic before answering.
📌 Leverage Role-Based Reasoning – Have Addie think from an expert’s perspective.
📌 Use Dual-Perspective Analysis – Compare insights from different viewpoints for a complete picture.
By implementing structured thinking techniques, counselors can ensure Addie provides more accurate, evidence-backed, and well-reasoned responses, making student advising sessions even more effective. 🚀
7. Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Even well-crafted prompts can lead to inaccurate or unhelpful responses if common pitfalls aren’t avoided. Below are the most frequent mistakes and how to fix them.
🚫 Pitfall 1: Vague or Broad PromptsI
ssue: Requests like "Tell me about this student." lead to generic, unfocused responses.
✅ Fix: Be specific. "Summarize this student’s academic strengths using verbatim teacher quotes and cite each source."
🚫 Pitfall 2: Leading or Assumptive Prompts
Issue: Prompts like "Why is this student a top candidate for Ivy League schools?" assume a conclusion.
✅ Fix: Use neutral language. "Based on this student’s academic and extracurricular profile, identify strong college fits with supporting quotes."
🚫 Pitfall 3: Asking for Insights Without Evidence
Issue: Prompts that don’t require citations can lead to hallucinated responses.
✅ Fix: Require direct quotes and source citations. "Use only verbatim teacher comments to describe this student’s leadership skills."
🚫 Pitfall 4: Overloading a Single Prompt
Issue: Asking too many things at once confuses Addie.
✅ Fix: Break it down into steps. First, "Identify the student’s strongest subjects based on teacher comments." Then, "Suggest related college majors with supporting evidence."
🚫 Pitfall 5: Not Defining a Fallback for Missing Data
Issue: If no relevant data exists, Addie may generate assumptions.
✅ Fix: Include fallback instructions. "If no relevant feedback is found, state: ‘No data available in teacher or counselor notes.’"
Key Takeaways
📌 Be specific & structured – Avoid vague or overloaded prompts.
📌 Use neutral language – Let Addie assess data without bias.
📌 Require verbatim quotes – Prevent hallucinations by using real feedback.
📌 Break complex requests into steps – Improve logical accuracy.
📌 Define fallbacks for missing data – Ensure transparency in responses.
By avoiding these pitfalls, counselors can ensure fact-based, useful, and actionable insights from Addie. 🚀
8. Prompt Template
This section provides a simple, customizable prompt template to help you create clear, structured, and effective prompts when working with Addie. By following this format, you can ensure your prompts generate accurate, evidence-backed, and useful insights for student advising.
📌 Essential Components of a Strong Prompt
A well-crafted prompt should include:
✅ A clear task – What do you want Addie to do? (Summarize, analyze, compare, etc.)
✅ A defined data source – Should Addie use teacher comments, counselor notes, or student reflections?
✅ A required response format – Should the answer be in bullet points, a categorized list, or a ranked order?
✅ A safeguard against hallucinations – Require verbatim quotes and include fallback instructions if data is missing.
✅ Structured thinking – Break complex queries into steps to improve logical accuracy.
✅ An expert perspective (optional) – Have Addie think like an admissions officer, college counselor, or financial aid expert if relevant.
📌 Prompt Template for Counselors
Use this structure to build your own custom prompts for Addie:
💡 "Perform [task] based on [data source]. Structure the response as [desired format] and ensure all claims are supported by direct evidence. Use verbatim quotes with source attribution (teacher name, subject, and course grade). If no relevant information is available, state: '[Fallback response].' If applicable, think from the perspective of [expert role]."
📌 Example Customizable Prompts
🔹 Academic Strengths Assessment
"Summarize this student's academic strengths based on direct teacher comments. Provide verbatim quotes and cite the teacher’s name, subject, and grade received. Structure the response in categorized bullet points by subject area. If no strengths are mentioned, state: 'No academic strengths recorded in teacher notes.'"
🔹 College Fit Exploration
"Analyze this student’s learning style, academic strengths, and extracurricular activities based on teacher and counselor feedback. Identify five types of colleges where they would thrive, with 10 school recommendations per category. Justify each category and school choice using direct evidence. If no relevant data is found, state: 'No specific college fit information recorded in student notes.'"
🔹 Extracurricular Leadership Evaluation
"Identify leadership experiences from this student's extracurricular involvement using teacher and counselor notes. Categorize them into school-based leadership, community involvement, and independent projects. Provide verbatim supporting quotes for each category. If no leadership traits are found, state: 'No leadership-related comments recorded in teacher or counselor notes.'"
🔹 Scholarship Eligibility Review
"Assess this student's eligibility for merit-based scholarships based on academic performance and extracurricular involvement. Identify three potential scholarship categories and provide supporting evidence from teacher and counselor comments. If no relevant data exists, state: 'No scholarship-related data recorded in student notes.'"
📌 Key Takeaways
📌 Follow the template – Ensure prompts include clear tasks, data sources, and structured formats.
📌 Require verbatim quotes – Strengthen accuracy and transparency in responses.
📌 Use fallback instructions – Prevent assumptions when data is missing.
📌 Customize prompts for different needs – Use structured thinking for better responses.
This Prompt Template provides a simple way for counselors to build effective prompts that generate student-specific, data-driven insights with Addie. 🚀
9. Advanced Tips
For even more precise and insightful responses, apply these advanced techniques when prompting Addie.
1️⃣ Iterative Prompting: Refining Responses Over Time
Instead of expecting a perfect answer in one prompt, refine your request in steps.
✅ Example: Start with "Summarize this student’s academic strengths." → Follow up with "Now categorize strengths by subject and provide supporting quotes."
2️ ⃣ Chain-of-Feedback Prompting: Improving Accuracy
Ask Addie to evaluate its own response for completeness.
✅ Example: "Summarize this student’s leadership skills. Then review your response and ensure each claim is backed by a verbatim quote."
3️⃣ Layered Role-Based Thinking: Combining Perspectives
Use multiple expert viewpoints for a more balanced response.
✅ Example: "First, assess this student’s strengths as a teacher would. Then, analyze how an admissions officer would interpret those strengths."
4️⃣ Asking for Patterns and Trends: Big-Picture Insights
Instead of just requesting lists, ask Addie to identify overarching themes.
✅ Example: "Analyze this student’s academic performance over time. Identify trends in improvement, consistency, or struggle based on teacher feedback."
5️⃣ Conditional Logic: More Dynamic Responses
Ask Addie to adjust its response based on specific conditions.
✅ Example: "Summarize this student’s strengths. If they are strongest in STEM, suggest STEM-focused colleges; otherwise, suggest liberal arts schools."
Key Takeaways
📌 Use follow-ups to refine insights.
📌 Ask Addie to verify its own responses.
📌 Apply multiple perspectives for deeper understanding.
📌 Look for patterns, not just facts.
📌 Make responses adaptive with conditional logic.
These techniques help counselors get the most out of Addie, ensuring deeper, more tailored insights for student advising. 🚀
10. Conclusion
By mastering effective prompting techniques, you can unlock Addie’s full potential to provide accurate, structured, and student-specific insights for college counseling.✅ Key Takeaways:Be clear and specific – Define exactly what you need.Require verbatim quotes – Ensure accuracy and transparency.Use structured thinking – Break complex requests into logical steps.Prevent hallucinations – Establish fallbacks for missing data.Customize prompts – Adapt Addie’s responses to different advising needs.As you apply these strategies, remember that prompting is an interactive process—refining your approach will lead to better, more actionable insights for your students.With Addie as your AI-powered assistant, you can spend less time searching for insights and more time providing meaningful guidance to students on their college journey. 🚀Ready to get started? Try crafting your own prompt using the Prompt Template and explore how Addie can enhance your counseling process!Do you want to try Addie?Click here to sign up. 
