This article provides valuable insights on the best practices to consider when choosing your Select 6.
Overview
Each order per year includes one set of six comparison institutions, known as "Select 6." When choosing your Select 6, there are various factors to consider. It is essential to maintain consistency in your selection criteria. You may find it valuable to focus on institutions in your immediate geographic area, aspirant institutions, or institutions that your admissions staff identifies as direct competitors. It is not recommended to use a mix of rationales when selecting these institutions. While detailed data will be provided for each of the six comparison institutions, individual institutions will not be specifically identified to ensure data confidentiality.
The Profile Report is closely connected to the Select 6, although they are not identical. To help you choose the institutions for comparison, we collect general profile information from all participating institutions and compile it into the Profile Report. This report provides valuable insights and assists in the selection process.
These are the criteria that are most commonly used:
- Peer Institutions: If you want to compare your institution's performance with institutions that are similar to yours in terms of program size, type, and curriculum, we recommend selecting Select 6 institutions that mirror your program. You can search the profile report based on size and program type to find institutions that closely match your own. This will provide you with valuable insights into how your institution compares to its peers.
- Aspirant Institutions: If you are looking to gauge your institution's performance against those that are excelling in areas your institution aspires to, such as innovative programming, larger program offerings, or unique curriculum, we recommend sorting the profile report based on your specific interests. This will allow you to choose institutions with programs that align with your aspirations and provide valuable insights into how your institution can strive for excellence.
- Competitor Institutions: If you are particularly interested in evaluating your institution's performance against other institutions that are considered your competitors, we recommend that you share the list of participants with your administrators and seek their recommendations. They can provide valuable insights on which institutions to select for comparison.
Institutions that choose to purchase an additional set of six institutions, known as the "Additional Select 6," will have two separate sets of six institutions. It is important to note that the results for these two sets are not combined to create a total of twelve institutions. Instead, the results for each set of six institutions are reported separately. This flexibility allows institutions to utilize more than one rationale when selecting their comparison institutions. For instance, an institution can choose peer institutions as their first set of Select 6 and then select aspirant institutions for the Additional Select 6.