The Indian Student Who Pretended to Be Black for Med School Acceptance

Vijay Chokalingam was an average college student in America. He wanted to get into medical school, but with a GPA of 3.1 (roughly equivalent to an 80 in Israeli terms), his chances were slim.

Slim, that is, for an Indian-American. Data published in recent years in the United States reveal that while American applicants of European or Indian descent are often rejected if their grades aren't high enough, African-American or Hispanic candidates are accepted even with lower grades due to affirmative action policies. Therefore, Vijay decided to transform into an African-American. He shaved his straight hair, trimmed his long eyelashes, joined the Black Student Association, and began using his middle name—Jojo. On all applications he sent to universities across the US, he marked his race as 'Black'.

The transformation succeeded beyond expectations. Chokalingam, who wasn't supposed to receive even an interview invitation due to his grades, was called for interviews at various prestigious universities, including Harvard and Columbia. Eventually, he was accepted to one—as a Black student, of course.

However, not everything was smooth: Chokalingam reports that while presenting himself as Black, he was frequently harassed by police and often accused of shoplifting by store clerks.

Today, Vijay Chokalingam is not a doctor ("you're lucky," he jokes). He left medical school for UCLA's business school, one of the last academic institutions in America that accepts students based on merit rather than race. He is currently working on an autobiographical book, "Almost Black," documenting his experiences as an Indian-American posing as African-American. "I'm writing the book to show resistance to the prevalent affirmative action policies in the American educational system," he declares.