The article’s calculations appear inaccurate, their selection of colleges to be included is odd, and the term “alt-ivies” is meaningless.
If the goal is to measure colleges with the most dramatic changes in admit rate and number of applications, then a list is below. The following colleges had the largest change in admit rate and number of applications from 2009 to 2019 (chose 2019 to reduce COVID / test optional related influences). I excluded colleges with <1000 applications and non-traditional academic specialty schools, such as nursing or music conservatories.
1 . Chicago – Admit Rate: 27% → 6%, Applications 13k → 35k
2. GeorgiaTech – Admit Rate: 61% → 21%, Applications 10k → 37k
3. Colby – Admit Rate: 34% → 10%, Applications 5k → 14k
4. Case Western – Admit Rate: 70% → 27%, Applications 8k → 29k
5. Dallas – Admit Rate: 92% → 45%, Applications 1k → 5k
…
~30. Northeastern – Admit Rate: 41% → 18%, Applications 34k → 62k