The criteria are popularity/ desireability/ bragability. I hate to see one of my child’s schools on this list. Can only mean apps are going up…
From the article " Back in 2018, we published a list of Alt-Ivies, colleges that had previously been classified as safety schools but that had slowly risen to become nearly as selective and sought after as Harvard, Yale, Brown, et al. Last year we created a new list to spotlight 15 additional schools that are experiencing dramatic increases in popularity, once again consulting with the college counselors at [IvyWise], who examined changes in competitive acceptance rates, notable increases in applications, and other unique factors that are enticing prospective students."