Top choice residency placement doesn't really mean anything. This is because the top ranked program on a person's rank list might not necessarily be his/her "real" first choice. It is only his first choice among those who offered him interviews. For example, I might really want to go to MGH, Hopkins, and all those top places, but none of them granted me interviews, so I only got to interview at some very non-competitive community programs. As a result, I only get to rank these community programs. However, when I match at my number 1 choice, I am still counted in the school's statistics as getting my top residency choice when, in fact, I didn't even come anywhere close to getting any of the programs that I really want to go. In fact, nationally, something like 80% of all applicants get their top three choices. So, that's why those statistics won't mean anything. That's also an advice to all those applying for med schools, don't put too much weight into school's claims such as "90% getting top 3 choices." They only represent top 3 choices AFTER the interview cut.