Match lists have too much to do with where the student WANTS to go... not where they HAVE to go. They have too much to do with what the student WANTS to go into, not what they HAVE to go into. So they are inherently flawed.
First time board pass rates and average school board scores are better as the scores are objective. But you have to see whether ALL students take boards or just ones selected by the administration. But good luck getting true information from schools without them "tweaking" it to make the school look better. Would be nice if NBOME published the statistics regarding pass rates per school and average score per school. Then you would just have to get the scuttlebutt whether the administration at each school holds back students from taking boards.
How old a school is also doesn't correlate (and I will NOT name specific schools here). Look at the curriculae, especially for things like OMM. Some schools only teach HVLA. Others are heavy on BLT. There is at least one school that refuses to teach their students cervical HVLA. I met students at two different schools that never heard of Still's technique. Some schools only require you demonstrate how to "set someone up" and talk through techniques during exams. Others require you to examine patients and treat real dysfunctions. For labs, some schools have prosections, others dissections. Some have 8-12 students per cadaver, others 4 (and one I've heard - merely heard from a current student - is looking at doing online video anatomy - no cadavers). Histology can be from slides which are online, or microscope stations (one you only have to memorize the online pictures, the other you have to actually figure out what you're looking at). Take a goooooood look at curriculae.
Then look at clinicals. Talk to students, look at old posts regarding clinical sites. Do students do mostly scutwork, very little actual patient care? Are they so busy doing H&Ps they never do anything else? For family med, are they shadowing or do they get their own patients? How much OMM do you do during third year (you'll need OMM for your comlex II)? During surgery are you observing 4 levels back, begging to hold a retractor, or first assisting? For psych is it all outpatient, or in a lockdown unit? Detox or true psych illnesses?
Prestige has more to do with how much the alumni talk up their school and who you know rather than how good the school actually is. Be careful and do your homework well.
