Mindy Kaling's brother Vijay Chokal-Ingam is pictured right in both images as an Indian American applicant (bottom) and as an African American applicant (top). Chokal-Ingam was accepted to medical school by pretending to be an African American applicant.
Photo: FilmMagic ; Handout (2)
[From article]
The big brother of Fox sitcom star Mindy Kaling reveals that he got into medical school by pretending to be African American.
Fifteen years ago, Vijay Chokal-Ingam shaved off his straight black hair, trimmed what he calls his “long Indian eyelashes” and started checking off the “black” box for race on his med-school applications.
Before long, the Asian Indian American was interviewing at Harvard and Columbia, and found himself on wait lists at the University of Pennsylvania, Washington University and Mt. Sinai — despite his relatively mediocre 3.1 GPA and his family’s considerable wealth.
[From article]
The big brother of Fox sitcom star Mindy Kaling reveals that he got into medical school by pretending to be African American.
Fifteen years ago, Vijay Chokal-Ingam shaved off his straight black hair, trimmed what he calls his “long Indian eyelashes” and started checking off the “black” box for race on his med-school applications.
Before long, the Asian Indian American was interviewing at Harvard and Columbia, and found himself on wait lists at the University of Pennsylvania, Washington University and Mt. Sinai — despite his relatively mediocre 3.1 GPA and his family’s considerable wealth.
[. . .]
Chokal-Ingam says he’s revealing his race ruse now because he heard that UCLA is considering strengthening its affirmative-action admissions policies. He says it’s a myth that affirmative action benefits the underprivileged.[. . .]
On affirmative action in general, Chokal-Ingam said, “Racism is not the answer…. It also promotes negative stereotypes about the competency of minority Americans by making it seem like they need special treatment.”
Andrea Peyser
