<p>The benefits of the top research programs are primarily allocated to graduate students at the institiutions I am personally familiar with.</p>
<p>The chance to engage in research for most undergraduate students is largely unavailable. It is a chance, but it is not a very good or reasonable chance. There may be some lucky few whose experience is otherwise but this is may be far from typical or expected results at the particular institutions.</p>
<p>In other words, the so-called chance may be more along the lines of the way that winning the lottery is chance. Depending on the school. Expectation of such opportunity would be a poor reason to select the particular institutions I attended, at least.</p>
<p>Which is not to say it definitely wouldn’t happen. People get hit by lightning too.</p>
<p>What I was primarlily reacting to was this statement:</p>
<p>“For the most part though, all the students from the elite privates have a good idea of grad level research and study by the time they get to the PhD school – at least in econ.”</p>
<p>which it seems to me is a lot different than this statement:
"Most undergrads at most schools have nothing to do with research. "</p>