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Monday, April 13, 2015

He Couldn’t Get into Medical School – Until He Decided to Pass as Black

Vijay Chokal-Ingam is the brother of actress and comedian Mindy Kaling, and in 1998, he wanted to go to medical school. With a 3.1 grade point average, however, he wasn’t a compelling candidate. He sent in his application and was rejected.

Then he decided to try another tack. IJ Review tells the story:

“I was determined to become a doctor and I knew that admission standards for certain minorities under affirmative action were, let’s say…less stringent?”

He decided the best way to get into medical school with his underwhelming GPA was to be black.

He explains on his blog how he prepared:

“So, I shaved my head, trimmed my long Indian eyelashes, and applied to medical school as a black man. My change in appearance was so startling that my own fraternity brothers didn’t recognize me at first.

“I even joined the Organization of Black Students and started using my embarrassing middle name that I had hidden from all of my friends since I was a 9 years old.”


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9 comments:

Queensgirl52 said...

Did he decide not to go to St. Louis U, or did the school rescind his acceptance once the truth came out? I was a premedical adviser at a university in New York for 18 years. Furnishing false information on an application is not taken lightly.

Anonymous said...

My black husband has long eyelashes, so there was no need to trim his to try to pass as black. Plus that's a good way to put an eye out!

Anonymous said...

What is false? He identifies as a black person. Seems like it is ok for some people to identify as one sex or the other, but he can't be "black"? Do they give DNA tests to ensue your ethnicity at med schools?

Anonymous said...

7:15 Thanks for clearing that up Mr. Mayor!

Anonymous said...

Is he trying to imply AA are favored in education systems at all levels? He's absolutely right. For some reason, their low scores are deemed higher than low scores from students of other races.

Anonymous said...

Wait just a minute , false statement on an application?
Anyone who puts down African American is false , unless he is from Africa and can provide proof!!

Anonymous said...

Whats the big deal, we got an Illegal Muslim masquerading as an American in the White House!

Claudia Balzac said...

Racial preferences hurt everyone, but only the ones who don't "need" them, are smart enough to understand this.

Anonymous said...

Excellent point, 7:16.