If you are seriously considering working with me, you might want to read them to help you decide if your interests and skills match. And then you might even want to show me that you understand STI by pointing out its limitations. First, the student should grow, succeed and excel in graduate school. Second, the student should match my research needs, or be close enough to be easily trained. Obviously it's much easier for me to evaluate students accurately if I see them in class every week rather than having just a resume.
Most research papers are far harder to understand than undergraduate textbooks.
I receive too many emails from students who obviously have not read this information page.