<p>Actually, I think your logic is faulty. Since auto-admit ended, Smith engineers are still getting into these top programs and still getting hired by top employers, in equal, if not greater numbers. If the students admitted under auto-admit were judged to be faulty, logically no more or many many fewer Smith students would be admitted to those programs once auto-admit ended. </p>
<p>The purpose of the auto-admit program as I understand it was to help engineers from a program no one knew anything about and while it was accredited, it’s caliber was not judged because there were as of yet no graduates from this program to be judged. Normally it would take many years for a program to establish itself enough to get top level recognition, but knowing that there was a tremendous lack of women engineers, Smith probably wanted to help this special program get a running start, hence why it worked with neighboring institutions to set up auto admit. </p>
<p>Now that there have been two or three graduated classes from the program, grad schools have had a chance to see what it can do, employers have had a chance to see what it can do, and so there really is no need for an auto-admit program to give these women an extra boost. The program is not new anymore, but strong and thriving, so the graduates are able to compete on a more or less even playing field with their counterparts from other colleges that have had engineering programs forever.</p>