Emailing professors when applying to grad schools

Simfish

I know it's frequently done. Just a question - what sorts of questions do these professors ask when they reply to these emails? (and are there certain professors more likely to reply than others - maybe profs looking for grad students or professors in less competitive fields?) Do they ever ask about a student's GPA? (which would inevitably come up in the academic transcript?)

fss

Take a look at this thread for an initial idea of what not to do followed by several good suggestions on how to go about doing just this.

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=454289