It's absolutely useless to look at match lists even when the schools are distantly ranked. It's even more useless than that when they are the numeric equivalent on the US News list. There are several problems with match lists. First, it only tells you where people are ending up, not what they wanted. Something might seem like a fantastic match to you but be low on that individuals list, and vice versa. How are you to know if the guy who chooses a middle of the road pediatrics residency isn't ecstatic that he ended up doing what he wanted exactly where he wanted to be geographically, while the guy at the top ranked plastics residency is miserable that he didn't get the neurosurgery spot he really wanted. It also tells you more about what people select rather than what they could get. Meaning a program that didn't send anyone into optho two years in a row doesn't mean people couldn't get optho, it often means people didn't want optho. Unlike undergrad, where there's a lot of prestige hunting, when choosing a residency, you are going to choose what you are going to be doing for the next 40 years. So you often see the top folks picking, say, IM over derm because they don't have an interest in derm, even though they could get it. Second, as a premed, you generally have no insight as to which places are good in which programs, which are known to be malignant, etc. Every hospital has some residencies that are better than others, and there are quite a few places that are top notch in one specialty, yet one of the worst ranked programs in another. As a premed you rarely know this, this all comes from word of mouth talking to mentors in your desired field. So basically match lists are a big waste of time because you are going to draw conclusions but don't have the context. Did folks get what they wanted, settle, etc. Did folks choose for geographic or family reasons, etc. Your conclusions will usually be wrong. Don't waste your time on this. I too looked at them when I was a premed, and now that I'm at the other end of the process, I'm telling you it's a waste of time. You can't usefully put yourself into the shoes of the folks applying for the match at this juncture. A lot will happen in 4 years, and your decisions will be shaped in different ways you can't anticipate, both by your school and externally.