What do you think?
Rate this book
Almost Black: The True Story of How I Got Into Medical School By Pretending to Be Black
I got into medical school by saying I was black. I lied. Honestly, I am about as black as my sister Mindy Kaling (The Office / The Mindy Project).
Once upon a time, I was an ethically challenged, hard-partying Indian American frat boy enjoying my third year of college. That is until I realized I didn’t have the grades or test scores to get into medical school. Legitimately.
Still, I was determined to be a doctor and discovered that affirmative action provided a loophole that might help. The only problem? I wasn't a minority. So I became one. I shaved my head, trimmed my long Indian eyelashes, and applied as an African American. Not even my own frat brothers recognized me. I joined the Organization of Black Students and used my middle name, Jojo.
Vijay, the Indian American frat boy, became Jojo, the African American affirmative action applicant.
Not everything went as planned. During a med school interview, an African American doctor angrily confronted me for not being black. Cops harassed me. Store clerks accused me of shoplifting. Women were either scared of me or found my bald black dude look sexually mesmerizing. What started as a scam to get into med school turned into a twisted social experiment, teaching me lessons I would never have learned in the classroom.
I became a serious contender at some of America’s greatest schools, including Harvard University, Washington University, University of Pennsylvania, Case Western Reserve University, George Washington University, University of Pittsburgh, Yale University, University of Rochester, University of Nebraska Omaha, and Columbia University. I interviewed at 11 schools while posing as a black man. After all that, I finally got accepted into medical school.
Almost Black combines the comic tone of 1986’s Soul Man, starring C. Thomas Howell, Rae Dawn Chong, and James Earl Jones, with the deeply poignant observations of Black Like Me, John Howard Griffin’s classic.
Resembling a mashup of the two works (but far more humorous), the hedonistic frat boy discovered something far more than what he’d bargained for while posing as a black man: the seriousness, complexities, and infuriating injustice of America’s racial problems. In Black Like Me, Griffin was a white man posing as a black man in the American South, prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I wasn’t on some intense social mission like he was, but just as Griffin did, I came away changed.
Before I finished this book, I stirred a hornet’s nest by telling the story. It has been featured in more than 100 media outlets, including CNN, ABC, NBC, FOX, TIME, The Guardian, National Review, Washington Post, Salon, Gawker, VOX, VICE, Complex, Buzz Feed, Huffington Post, Daily Mail, and Perez Hilton. Many loved it, but not everyone approved of what I did. My college classmate, Tucker Max (I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell), disapproved. My sister Mindy Kaling furiously declared, “This book will bring shame on our family!”
I disagree but I'll let you be the judge.
Once upon a time, I was an ethically challenged, hard-partying Indian American frat boy enjoying my third year of college. That is until I realized I didn’t have the grades or test scores to get into medical school. Legitimately.
Still, I was determined to be a doctor and discovered that affirmative action provided a loophole that might help. The only problem? I wasn't a minority. So I became one. I shaved my head, trimmed my long Indian eyelashes, and applied as an African American. Not even my own frat brothers recognized me. I joined the Organization of Black Students and used my middle name, Jojo.
Vijay, the Indian American frat boy, became Jojo, the African American affirmative action applicant.
Not everything went as planned. During a med school interview, an African American doctor angrily confronted me for not being black. Cops harassed me. Store clerks accused me of shoplifting. Women were either scared of me or found my bald black dude look sexually mesmerizing. What started as a scam to get into med school turned into a twisted social experiment, teaching me lessons I would never have learned in the classroom.
I became a serious contender at some of America’s greatest schools, including Harvard University, Washington University, University of Pennsylvania, Case Western Reserve University, George Washington University, University of Pittsburgh, Yale University, University of Rochester, University of Nebraska Omaha, and Columbia University. I interviewed at 11 schools while posing as a black man. After all that, I finally got accepted into medical school.
Almost Black combines the comic tone of 1986’s Soul Man, starring C. Thomas Howell, Rae Dawn Chong, and James Earl Jones, with the deeply poignant observations of Black Like Me, John Howard Griffin’s classic.
Resembling a mashup of the two works (but far more humorous), the hedonistic frat boy discovered something far more than what he’d bargained for while posing as a black man: the seriousness, complexities, and infuriating injustice of America’s racial problems. In Black Like Me, Griffin was a white man posing as a black man in the American South, prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I wasn’t on some intense social mission like he was, but just as Griffin did, I came away changed.
Before I finished this book, I stirred a hornet’s nest by telling the story. It has been featured in more than 100 media outlets, including CNN, ABC, NBC, FOX, TIME, The Guardian, National Review, Washington Post, Salon, Gawker, VOX, VICE, Complex, Buzz Feed, Huffington Post, Daily Mail, and Perez Hilton. Many loved it, but not everyone approved of what I did. My college classmate, Tucker Max (I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell), disapproved. My sister Mindy Kaling furiously declared, “This book will bring shame on our family!”
I disagree but I'll let you be the judge.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 13, 2016
16 people are currently reading
327 people want to read
About the author
Vijay Jojo Chokal-Ingam
3 books12 followersVijay Jojo Chokal Ingam (Chokalingam) is an “Affirmative Action Hacktivist” who was successfully admitted to the St. Louis University (SLU) School of Medicine by posing as a black man, despite having a pitifully low GPA. Vijay detailed his misadventures masquerading as a black man in his recent book Almost Black. His story has been featured on more than 100 media outlets, including CNN, NBC, ABC, TIME, FOX, and Huffington Post.
Vijay received his B.A. in Economics without distinction from the University of Chicago, where his more academically gifted classmates included Tucker Max (the New York Times best-selling author of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell / Sloppy Seconds and the founder of the “fratire” literary genre). After failing out of medical school, Vijay got his act together and became a CFA charterholder, an advanced accreditation in finance. He even succeeded in gaining admission to the UCLA Anderson School of Management, a top-ranked business school. This time, Vijay did not pose as a black man, since UCLA does not practice affirmative action in admissions.
Professionally, Vijay works as a career coach, resume writer, and admissions consultant for SOSCareerService.com. He has helped thousands of clients get into top educational institutions and secure prestigious jobs by helping them with their resumes, personal statements, application essays, and interview preparation. For the record, Vijay NEVER advises his clients to lie about their race in their applications. He is an active member of several writers’ communities, including the GrubStreet creative writing center, the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society, and the UCLA Writers’ Program.
Vijay is the brother of Mindy Kaling, actress (The Office), comedian, New York Times best-selling author (Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? / Why Not Me?), and the creator of the Fox and Hulu sitcom The Mindy Project.
Visit AlmostBlack.com, follow @almostblack, and use the hashtag #almostblack on Twitter to share your thoughts on Vijay’s book, affirmative action, and beyond.
Vijay received his B.A. in Economics without distinction from the University of Chicago, where his more academically gifted classmates included Tucker Max (the New York Times best-selling author of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell / Sloppy Seconds and the founder of the “fratire” literary genre). After failing out of medical school, Vijay got his act together and became a CFA charterholder, an advanced accreditation in finance. He even succeeded in gaining admission to the UCLA Anderson School of Management, a top-ranked business school. This time, Vijay did not pose as a black man, since UCLA does not practice affirmative action in admissions.
Professionally, Vijay works as a career coach, resume writer, and admissions consultant for SOSCareerService.com. He has helped thousands of clients get into top educational institutions and secure prestigious jobs by helping them with their resumes, personal statements, application essays, and interview preparation. For the record, Vijay NEVER advises his clients to lie about their race in their applications. He is an active member of several writers’ communities, including the GrubStreet creative writing center, the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society, and the UCLA Writers’ Program.
Vijay is the brother of Mindy Kaling, actress (The Office), comedian, New York Times best-selling author (Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? / Why Not Me?), and the creator of the Fox and Hulu sitcom The Mindy Project.
Visit AlmostBlack.com, follow @almostblack, and use the hashtag #almostblack on Twitter to share your thoughts on Vijay’s book, affirmative action, and beyond.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 23, 2018
Almost Black follows a true account of how Vijay Jojo Chokal-Ingam gets admission in a medical college pretending and lying to be someone who he was not. Impressive, audacious and interesting, if you get hang of it. You could never expect someone doing it and yet this book witnesses it all.
Vijay is an admission consultant and career coach. With Almost Black you embark on a journey of a man who was not an exceptionally bright student in college but how he masquerades as a Black Man and gets inside the college.
It often happens that there are few incidences you don't want to believe that occurred and yet you've trust them. Almost Black portrays a narrative of such an incidence. It was a hilarious take on different social issues the world is facing right now. Surely, the book has garnered media attention.
You may like the book, you may not. But the essence that it provides you is certain to stay for a long time. It is a tale of how amazing things can happens if you just look out for them.
Finding loopholes in the system was one of the agenda that the author worked pretty miraculously. I only wish that the language could have been improved a little.
It surprised me. It shocked me. It had me involved with it. Maybe it can do the same to you.
Vijay is an admission consultant and career coach. With Almost Black you embark on a journey of a man who was not an exceptionally bright student in college but how he masquerades as a Black Man and gets inside the college.
It often happens that there are few incidences you don't want to believe that occurred and yet you've trust them. Almost Black portrays a narrative of such an incidence. It was a hilarious take on different social issues the world is facing right now. Surely, the book has garnered media attention.
You may like the book, you may not. But the essence that it provides you is certain to stay for a long time. It is a tale of how amazing things can happens if you just look out for them.
Finding loopholes in the system was one of the agenda that the author worked pretty miraculously. I only wish that the language could have been improved a little.
It surprised me. It shocked me. It had me involved with it. Maybe it can do the same to you.
June 30, 2021
I received this book through Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
I will start out with the disclaimer that I am pretty much the pescatarian, "feminazi" that Chokal-Ingam characterizes Sucrose as, so my opinions about this book are not all that surprising.
The writing of this book was overall well-done. Lots of big, complicated words and interesting incorporation of philosophy, history, politics, and economics. I think Chokal-Ingam made some very important points regarding how race in conceptualized in America. I liked some of the knowledge he gained from his experience, such as requiring him to rethink what it means to be "black."
But for me, I don't think Chokal-Ingam really took much away from this unique experience. Despite posing as a black man, Chokal-Ingam seemed to learn little of race as a sociological concept. Yes, he experiences some racism as a black man, but he seems to ignore why affirmative action was put in place to begin with: because of the severe disadvantages socially, politically, economically, and psychologically that many black people face, which limits them in certain areas such as the medical profession. While I personally do not agree with how he took advantage of the system, I think Chokal-Ingam really missed out on a unique learning experience. Instead of learning the racial inequalities that black people face in their day-to-day lives, Chokal-Ingam just focuses on the tiny advantage that some schools give to applicants who are black and how that adversely affected him as an Indian American. His conception feels dichotomous, pinning African American against Indian American, instead of the tackling the real culprit: the mistreatment of people based on their race throughout American history.
Going along with this, when Chokal-Ingam does talk about the lives of African Americans, he comes off as very patronizing. In the narrative, Chokal-Ingam seems very entitled. I understand where Chokal-Ingam is coming from. I can only imagine how frustrating and unfair it is to realize you are at a disadvantage because your race is over-represented in your desired profession. But I would have liked to see Chokal-Ingam at least gain some insight into why the system is the way it is and the disadvantages that affirmative action is trying to reduce. And while he does note that affirmative action has good means, he doesn't really suggest how to make it better or "fix" the problem.
And yes, the "feminazi" in me has to say it: the way he recounts collage experiences with women really grated on me. He mentions at the start that this was how he and his friends talked about women at the time. I totally understand that. But the fact that he continues to condone such dehumanizing language as an adult is off-putting. Chokal-Ingam's narrative is very problematic in his participation in fat-shaming, stereotypes, slut-shaming, misogyny, and lack of acceptance.
This is an interesting case of ethics and requires the reader to challenge such concepts as racial identity, fairness, racism, affirmative action, and so-called "reverse racism". While it raises many interesting ethical questions, Chokal-Ingam's narrative was not for me due to his entitlement, lack of understanding of the disadvantages many black Americans face, and anti-feminist language in recounting the events that took place on his journey to medical school.
I will start out with the disclaimer that I am pretty much the pescatarian, "feminazi" that Chokal-Ingam characterizes Sucrose as, so my opinions about this book are not all that surprising.
The writing of this book was overall well-done. Lots of big, complicated words and interesting incorporation of philosophy, history, politics, and economics. I think Chokal-Ingam made some very important points regarding how race in conceptualized in America. I liked some of the knowledge he gained from his experience, such as requiring him to rethink what it means to be "black."
But for me, I don't think Chokal-Ingam really took much away from this unique experience. Despite posing as a black man, Chokal-Ingam seemed to learn little of race as a sociological concept. Yes, he experiences some racism as a black man, but he seems to ignore why affirmative action was put in place to begin with: because of the severe disadvantages socially, politically, economically, and psychologically that many black people face, which limits them in certain areas such as the medical profession. While I personally do not agree with how he took advantage of the system, I think Chokal-Ingam really missed out on a unique learning experience. Instead of learning the racial inequalities that black people face in their day-to-day lives, Chokal-Ingam just focuses on the tiny advantage that some schools give to applicants who are black and how that adversely affected him as an Indian American. His conception feels dichotomous, pinning African American against Indian American, instead of the tackling the real culprit: the mistreatment of people based on their race throughout American history.
Going along with this, when Chokal-Ingam does talk about the lives of African Americans, he comes off as very patronizing. In the narrative, Chokal-Ingam seems very entitled. I understand where Chokal-Ingam is coming from. I can only imagine how frustrating and unfair it is to realize you are at a disadvantage because your race is over-represented in your desired profession. But I would have liked to see Chokal-Ingam at least gain some insight into why the system is the way it is and the disadvantages that affirmative action is trying to reduce. And while he does note that affirmative action has good means, he doesn't really suggest how to make it better or "fix" the problem.
And yes, the "feminazi" in me has to say it: the way he recounts collage experiences with women really grated on me. He mentions at the start that this was how he and his friends talked about women at the time. I totally understand that. But the fact that he continues to condone such dehumanizing language as an adult is off-putting. Chokal-Ingam's narrative is very problematic in his participation in fat-shaming, stereotypes, slut-shaming, misogyny, and lack of acceptance.
This is an interesting case of ethics and requires the reader to challenge such concepts as racial identity, fairness, racism, affirmative action, and so-called "reverse racism". While it raises many interesting ethical questions, Chokal-Ingam's narrative was not for me due to his entitlement, lack of understanding of the disadvantages many black Americans face, and anti-feminist language in recounting the events that took place on his journey to medical school.
November 21, 2016
I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway.
It is very hard to rate this book. If it were fiction, I would give it a high rating because it was an entertaining read. However, it is the author's account of how he was able to gain admission to a medical school by lying about his race. I'm glad I didn't pay for the book because I don't think he should be profiting from his deceitful and unethical behavior. On page 327 of the book, he asks if he is "a giant douchbag who unapologetically took someone else's spot [in medical school]" and the answer is a resounding YES.
I also do not think it is appropriate for an author to rate (5 stars, no less) his own book on Goodreads.
It is very hard to rate this book. If it were fiction, I would give it a high rating because it was an entertaining read. However, it is the author's account of how he was able to gain admission to a medical school by lying about his race. I'm glad I didn't pay for the book because I don't think he should be profiting from his deceitful and unethical behavior. On page 327 of the book, he asks if he is "a giant douchbag who unapologetically took someone else's spot [in medical school]" and the answer is a resounding YES.
I also do not think it is appropriate for an author to rate (5 stars, no less) his own book on Goodreads.
December 25, 2020
I have been wanting to read this book for many years. At first glance, the story of a Hollywood celebrity's brother feigning his race to matriculate into medical school, is eye-catching. It had my curiosity piqued. After all, I am in medical school!
I have to say this book was a huge letdown. Most of what the author describes could be distilled down to a few chapters. This book is redundant and lacks a thesis. I don't agree that affirmative action is reverse discrimination. The author never stood a chance of getting into medical school. His choice to attend the one school he duped into accepting him did indeed snatch a seat away from somebody who had actually put time and effort into the goal of becoming a physician. Being a National Merit Scholar means nothing if you chose to frat-it-up and disregard studying in university. Your one experience within healthcare granted to you through nepotism means very little. There are actual African Americans with NO family members in medicine or university for that matter who have to navigate the pre-med landscape alone. The author had every possible advantage under the sun. Sure some prep school shunned him likely for his race at 11 years old. Well so what? If he gave a rat's ass about that experience he would have availed the opportunities given to him, of which there were many.
The tone of this book is bro-ish. I don't care if he can quote Machiavelli. I believe at one point he uses that skill as a comeback against cop enacted discrimination. So what? People who can's quote Machiavelli should be treated differently by cops? I read this book from end to end. Skimming the second half. I was left disappointed. I can see why this charade and book left him estranged from his sister, the great Mindy Kaling (who he name-drops to no end, of course, to increase sales). Glad I pirated this book off the internet. Regret having spent my life reading it.
I have to say this book was a huge letdown. Most of what the author describes could be distilled down to a few chapters. This book is redundant and lacks a thesis. I don't agree that affirmative action is reverse discrimination. The author never stood a chance of getting into medical school. His choice to attend the one school he duped into accepting him did indeed snatch a seat away from somebody who had actually put time and effort into the goal of becoming a physician. Being a National Merit Scholar means nothing if you chose to frat-it-up and disregard studying in university. Your one experience within healthcare granted to you through nepotism means very little. There are actual African Americans with NO family members in medicine or university for that matter who have to navigate the pre-med landscape alone. The author had every possible advantage under the sun. Sure some prep school shunned him likely for his race at 11 years old. Well so what? If he gave a rat's ass about that experience he would have availed the opportunities given to him, of which there were many.
The tone of this book is bro-ish. I don't care if he can quote Machiavelli. I believe at one point he uses that skill as a comeback against cop enacted discrimination. So what? People who can's quote Machiavelli should be treated differently by cops? I read this book from end to end. Skimming the second half. I was left disappointed. I can see why this charade and book left him estranged from his sister, the great Mindy Kaling (who he name-drops to no end, of course, to increase sales). Glad I pirated this book off the internet. Regret having spent my life reading it.
October 31, 2016
Surprisingly good read, but with college frat language that undermines it. Rather a lot of work, worry & deception for someone that didn't end up a doctor! This story took place in the late 90's...
I can't imagine a potential medical student affording travel, mostly by air, to go to Numerous colleges for interviews! Interesting read & viewpoints of a Black man vs. an East Indian man. Many thought-provoking conversations with his fraternity brothers made for assorted viewpoints being discussed. Thanks to Goodreads for the opportunity to read & review this book.
I can't imagine a potential medical student affording travel, mostly by air, to go to Numerous colleges for interviews! Interesting read & viewpoints of a Black man vs. an East Indian man. Many thought-provoking conversations with his fraternity brothers made for assorted viewpoints being discussed. Thanks to Goodreads for the opportunity to read & review this book.
April 3, 2025
I liked the writing of the book. The author is a completely entitled, douchey frat boy. He exploited an affirmative action system he does not agree with to take a space from someone else, and has spent the rest of his life (after flunking out of the medical school he did not deserve a space at anyway) raging against the unfairness of affirmative action.
ONE of the biggest problems is that the author had a big deal, Northeastern prep school education, and then wasted his undergrad years partying and thinking he was the shyt until he realized his grades wouldn't get him the med school slot he felt he was entitled to. He squandered the finest education money can buy, and then he crapped all over folks who had been trapped in substandard schools yet worked their butts off to get ahead (after a century of Jim and Juan Crow policies that did not allow them to move or for their parents to get better jobs).
Vijay is a horrible person. No wonder his horrible sister doesn't speak to him.
Well written book, though. Nice to see that fancy education he totally wasted paid off in some way.
ONE of the biggest problems is that the author had a big deal, Northeastern prep school education, and then wasted his undergrad years partying and thinking he was the shyt until he realized his grades wouldn't get him the med school slot he felt he was entitled to. He squandered the finest education money can buy, and then he crapped all over folks who had been trapped in substandard schools yet worked their butts off to get ahead (after a century of Jim and Juan Crow policies that did not allow them to move or for their parents to get better jobs).
Vijay is a horrible person. No wonder his horrible sister doesn't speak to him.
Well written book, though. Nice to see that fancy education he totally wasted paid off in some way.
November 17, 2016
This could have been eye-opening, informative, and humorous commentary on the society we live in and the discrepancies and disparities experienced by people of color in professional opportunities, like his sister's books, but this was way off the mark for me in terms of infusing odd and uncomfortable truths with a wry sarcasm or sardonic nature the way Kaling does. I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for a review.
January 3, 2017
I received this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway, and I was so excited to read it. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. It could have been a really interesting and humorous take on an important societal issue. Instead its mostly just a recounting of what douchey frat bros the author and his friends were/are. Congrats on that epic party, and all the women you chased, but that's not why I wanted to read this book. Overall, hugely disappointing.
December 20, 2023
Book Review
Almost Black
2/5 stars
"Some interesting thoughts, but not a keeper"
********
Of the book:
-327 pps/36 chapters≈ 9.1pps/chapter
-No index
-No bibliography (forgiveable)
-NEEDS AN EDITOR (its ≠it's)
-5~6 hours reading time
The best part of this book was the attributed quotes at the beginning of every chapter.
Our author decided to pull a confidence trick and see if he could get into medical school with only mediocre medical scores if he posed as black.
The fine print is that:
1. This book was written in 2017 about events that happened in about 1998. (A book written 6 years ago about something that happened 25 years ago.) It may be that after the recent supreme Court rulings that all of this book is meaningless/ historical color from a different era.
2. It was written by some extremely atypical, Americanized Indians. (Most Indians get married by arranged marriage, even Stateside; I've NEVER heard of any of them having children out of wedlock. But, Jojo appears to be unmarried with no children and his sister is a babymama with two children named "Catherine" and "Spencer" and no father identified/in sight.)
3. His undergraduate grades and test scores just may have had external validity; he finally managed to get in the medical school, but he did not stay.
*******
1. The ineluctable conclusion (in spite of this author's left-wing bent) is that there just are not as many blacks of high cognitive ability as there are whites/Asians--and that educational institutions will lower their standards in order to get them there.
2. It may be even worse than it seems, because: the goal of medical schools was to get 3,000 black people enrolled in medical schools, and as I look at an article written just in 2021, they haven't even gotten close.
3. I don't want to make it look worse than it is, but there's not only the issue of getting in medical school.... But STAYING in medical school. As well as passing your boards and getting a residency. (Remember that our author did get in with the grades of what may have been a more typical black person, but he did not stay; if he could not, then what percentage of blacks actually manage to finish?)
4. The author is sanctimonious in ONLY the way that Clueless White People can be
a. (~p.182) He claims being stopped by the police for driving while black. In reality, a hugely disproportionate amount of violent crime and theft really are done by black people. (You been to Chicago / Detroit / Baltimore lately?)
A rational officer would look in the places that are most likely to have crime. The author's popcorn psychoanalysis that: "Racists are small-minded, fearful people driven by the desperate need to blame others for what they see as their lot in life" just is not accurate in this case.
Maybe these people really are just aware of their surroundings and responding appropriately.
b. (p.211) Jojo talks about being physically ejected from a store by security. But, if you actually work a shift or two as a cashier (I have), then you will see that 99.9% of your retail theft is black people. (Seems like every time there's some kind of civil protest by some black people it immediately turns into a bunch of looting. I wonder if it was a looting exercise that turned into a civil protest or the other way around?)
5. I have a hard time believing some of Jojo's, um, romantic assertions. The first thing is that this guy looks like Shri Thanedar (emphatically not the epitome of sexiness).
And he's talking about these nice looking Persian women that are interested in him, but..... Middle Eastern people prefer to marry lighter than darker. (When is the last time you saw an Arab or a Persian woman with a black guy?)
He's also talking about the play that he got as a black guy.
And, I guess a lot of black guys can be expected to get a lot of play in the case that:
i. They're an athlete/musician / other celebrity;
ii. They're a normal guy, but interested in White Baby Elephants.
*******
Other thoughts:
1. This book was pretty easy to read, in the author had an impressive memory for names and conversations.
2. Okay to read, but not worth a reread.
The humor was sometimes good, sometimes labored and the author was just too cocky.
3. One would think that he would have been more judicious with his choice of presentation given the negative perceptions of frat boys. (If he could have afforded her speaking fee with all of the money that he bragged about his parents having, he should have hired somebody like Ann Coulter to help him craft a funny book. Her humor never gets stale.)
Also the fact that he was a wealthy but lazy f-off really did not help us readers to be sympathetic.
4. He got lots of interviews from lots of different schools, and he shared the letters with us (ordinarily you would not be able to get all of them in one place).
The general pattern was that they got him there for an interview, and figured out that he was not black and didn't say anything - - they just put him on the waiting list and let the application die.
(As an aside: I don't know how anybody could mistake the author for a black guy.)
I know what Tamil Indians look like when I see them because I have seen so many, and I could probably have guessed who he was from a distance of 500 ft.
What must other black people have thought when they saw him?
For that matter, with the desperation of Indians to get into medical school, is this really the first time this trick has been played? (And with the last name like "Chokalingam," how long could it have stayed a secret? If he had applied with the last name like Jackson or Washington--90% black--he might have been able to fool someone.)
5. It's also interesting that it seems like they put a lot of black people at medical schools at work trying to recruit other black people. (Some of them are actual physicians, but others are just EdDs.) This was a joke that one of my professors told me that: "It seems like every time they have guys like you complete a PhD, instead of having them do original research they write grants to recruit other guys that look like you."
6. Only for deeper thinkers is affirmative action actually detrimental to blacks; EVERY TIME there is some odd black person in a professional position, it's going to be impossible for him to prove that he is as smart as anybody else and was not an "affirmative action admit."
I can see at least one of the characters in this book developing a hatred for black people because of their perceived unfair advantages. (So that's why I have such weird experiences with Asian indians!)
And then you multiply that by a million other Asian/Indian kids that are trying to get in the medical school who feel that they have been treated unfairly, and see what it adds up to. ("Affirmative Action, an International Comparison," by Thomas Sowell has shown how neighbors can be turned into bitter enemies over racial "balancing" policies. In many countries in the world.)
Verdict: not recommended at the price of more than $4.
*******
Quotes:
1. If you're not failing now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative.
2. Warfare is the art of deception.
3. At various points in our lives, or on a quest, and for reasons that often remain obscure, we are driven to make decisions which prove with hindsight to be loaded with meaning.
4. If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner
5. Be sure that whatever you are is you.
6. Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no fibs.
7. Abandon hope all ye who enter here
8. Healing is a matter of time, but it's sometimes similarly a matter of opportunity.
9. Men still have to be governed by deception.
10. Guard yourself from lying semicolon there is he who deceives and there is he who is deceived.
11. The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.
12. History is a bunch of lies we have all agreed upon.
13. Never try to win by force what can be won by deception.
14. If you want to trick the world, tell the truth.
15. Sometimes it's the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination.
16. The main difference between a cat and a lie is that a cat only has nine lives.
17. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
18. Every truth has two sides; it is as well to look at both, before we commit ourselves to either.
19. It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue.
20. Maybe the falcon was trying to tell the falcon or something he didn't know. (Author's quip. Riff on a William Butler Yates' "The Second Coming.")
Almost Black
2/5 stars
"Some interesting thoughts, but not a keeper"
********
Of the book:
-327 pps/36 chapters≈ 9.1pps/chapter
-No index
-No bibliography (forgiveable)
-NEEDS AN EDITOR (its ≠it's)
-5~6 hours reading time
The best part of this book was the attributed quotes at the beginning of every chapter.
Our author decided to pull a confidence trick and see if he could get into medical school with only mediocre medical scores if he posed as black.
The fine print is that:
1. This book was written in 2017 about events that happened in about 1998. (A book written 6 years ago about something that happened 25 years ago.) It may be that after the recent supreme Court rulings that all of this book is meaningless/ historical color from a different era.
2. It was written by some extremely atypical, Americanized Indians. (Most Indians get married by arranged marriage, even Stateside; I've NEVER heard of any of them having children out of wedlock. But, Jojo appears to be unmarried with no children and his sister is a babymama with two children named "Catherine" and "Spencer" and no father identified/in sight.)
3. His undergraduate grades and test scores just may have had external validity; he finally managed to get in the medical school, but he did not stay.
*******
1. The ineluctable conclusion (in spite of this author's left-wing bent) is that there just are not as many blacks of high cognitive ability as there are whites/Asians--and that educational institutions will lower their standards in order to get them there.
2. It may be even worse than it seems, because: the goal of medical schools was to get 3,000 black people enrolled in medical schools, and as I look at an article written just in 2021, they haven't even gotten close.
3. I don't want to make it look worse than it is, but there's not only the issue of getting in medical school.... But STAYING in medical school. As well as passing your boards and getting a residency. (Remember that our author did get in with the grades of what may have been a more typical black person, but he did not stay; if he could not, then what percentage of blacks actually manage to finish?)
4. The author is sanctimonious in ONLY the way that Clueless White People can be
a. (~p.182) He claims being stopped by the police for driving while black. In reality, a hugely disproportionate amount of violent crime and theft really are done by black people. (You been to Chicago / Detroit / Baltimore lately?)
A rational officer would look in the places that are most likely to have crime. The author's popcorn psychoanalysis that: "Racists are small-minded, fearful people driven by the desperate need to blame others for what they see as their lot in life" just is not accurate in this case.
Maybe these people really are just aware of their surroundings and responding appropriately.
b. (p.211) Jojo talks about being physically ejected from a store by security. But, if you actually work a shift or two as a cashier (I have), then you will see that 99.9% of your retail theft is black people. (Seems like every time there's some kind of civil protest by some black people it immediately turns into a bunch of looting. I wonder if it was a looting exercise that turned into a civil protest or the other way around?)
5. I have a hard time believing some of Jojo's, um, romantic assertions. The first thing is that this guy looks like Shri Thanedar (emphatically not the epitome of sexiness).
And he's talking about these nice looking Persian women that are interested in him, but..... Middle Eastern people prefer to marry lighter than darker. (When is the last time you saw an Arab or a Persian woman with a black guy?)
He's also talking about the play that he got as a black guy.
And, I guess a lot of black guys can be expected to get a lot of play in the case that:
i. They're an athlete/musician / other celebrity;
ii. They're a normal guy, but interested in White Baby Elephants.
*******
Other thoughts:
1. This book was pretty easy to read, in the author had an impressive memory for names and conversations.
2. Okay to read, but not worth a reread.
The humor was sometimes good, sometimes labored and the author was just too cocky.
3. One would think that he would have been more judicious with his choice of presentation given the negative perceptions of frat boys. (If he could have afforded her speaking fee with all of the money that he bragged about his parents having, he should have hired somebody like Ann Coulter to help him craft a funny book. Her humor never gets stale.)
Also the fact that he was a wealthy but lazy f-off really did not help us readers to be sympathetic.
4. He got lots of interviews from lots of different schools, and he shared the letters with us (ordinarily you would not be able to get all of them in one place).
The general pattern was that they got him there for an interview, and figured out that he was not black and didn't say anything - - they just put him on the waiting list and let the application die.
(As an aside: I don't know how anybody could mistake the author for a black guy.)
I know what Tamil Indians look like when I see them because I have seen so many, and I could probably have guessed who he was from a distance of 500 ft.
What must other black people have thought when they saw him?
For that matter, with the desperation of Indians to get into medical school, is this really the first time this trick has been played? (And with the last name like "Chokalingam," how long could it have stayed a secret? If he had applied with the last name like Jackson or Washington--90% black--he might have been able to fool someone.)
5. It's also interesting that it seems like they put a lot of black people at medical schools at work trying to recruit other black people. (Some of them are actual physicians, but others are just EdDs.) This was a joke that one of my professors told me that: "It seems like every time they have guys like you complete a PhD, instead of having them do original research they write grants to recruit other guys that look like you."
6. Only for deeper thinkers is affirmative action actually detrimental to blacks; EVERY TIME there is some odd black person in a professional position, it's going to be impossible for him to prove that he is as smart as anybody else and was not an "affirmative action admit."
I can see at least one of the characters in this book developing a hatred for black people because of their perceived unfair advantages. (So that's why I have such weird experiences with Asian indians!)
And then you multiply that by a million other Asian/Indian kids that are trying to get in the medical school who feel that they have been treated unfairly, and see what it adds up to. ("Affirmative Action, an International Comparison," by Thomas Sowell has shown how neighbors can be turned into bitter enemies over racial "balancing" policies. In many countries in the world.)
Verdict: not recommended at the price of more than $4.
*******
Quotes:
1. If you're not failing now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative.
2. Warfare is the art of deception.
3. At various points in our lives, or on a quest, and for reasons that often remain obscure, we are driven to make decisions which prove with hindsight to be loaded with meaning.
4. If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner
5. Be sure that whatever you are is you.
6. Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no fibs.
7. Abandon hope all ye who enter here
8. Healing is a matter of time, but it's sometimes similarly a matter of opportunity.
9. Men still have to be governed by deception.
10. Guard yourself from lying semicolon there is he who deceives and there is he who is deceived.
11. The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.
12. History is a bunch of lies we have all agreed upon.
13. Never try to win by force what can be won by deception.
14. If you want to trick the world, tell the truth.
15. Sometimes it's the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination.
16. The main difference between a cat and a lie is that a cat only has nine lives.
17. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
18. Every truth has two sides; it is as well to look at both, before we commit ourselves to either.
19. It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue.
20. Maybe the falcon was trying to tell the falcon or something he didn't know. (Author's quip. Riff on a William Butler Yates' "The Second Coming.")
February 25, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, binge-reading over two days, largely because it hit close to home with our common background and because Chokalingam’s voice is so authentic.
But I think it’s that very authenticity that will offend most women, African-Americans, medical school faculty, college faculty, and basically any one who doesn’t like self-absorbed crudity and bad language.
This is perhaps a derelict version of “Black Like Me”, an over-privileged potty-mouthed frat boy who pretends to be Black while applying for medical school and details his experience. His motivations are selfish; to gain admission into medical school. But along the way, he learns a lot about American culture and does well to relay them to the reader.
I laughed at his lewdness because I appreciated its authenticity; I know full well that many college boys are just like he was and it makes the story more legitimate that he doesn’t sanitize his mindset or his dialogue. I appreciate the honesty, myself. Nevertheless, if you don’t like to hear a guy cuss every other word and objectify every female he comes across, this is a book to avoid!
I find him hilarious and it’s not difficult to imagine he and sister Mindy Kaling growing up in the same house. His diary of the events surrounding his scam are fascinating to me as is his conclusion and epilogue. Read it like a romp and be pleasantly surprised when you get actual life lessons out of it.
As a once struggling medical student also of Indian descent, his experience resonated and then some with me.
But I think it’s that very authenticity that will offend most women, African-Americans, medical school faculty, college faculty, and basically any one who doesn’t like self-absorbed crudity and bad language.
This is perhaps a derelict version of “Black Like Me”, an over-privileged potty-mouthed frat boy who pretends to be Black while applying for medical school and details his experience. His motivations are selfish; to gain admission into medical school. But along the way, he learns a lot about American culture and does well to relay them to the reader.
I laughed at his lewdness because I appreciated its authenticity; I know full well that many college boys are just like he was and it makes the story more legitimate that he doesn’t sanitize his mindset or his dialogue. I appreciate the honesty, myself. Nevertheless, if you don’t like to hear a guy cuss every other word and objectify every female he comes across, this is a book to avoid!
I find him hilarious and it’s not difficult to imagine he and sister Mindy Kaling growing up in the same house. His diary of the events surrounding his scam are fascinating to me as is his conclusion and epilogue. Read it like a romp and be pleasantly surprised when you get actual life lessons out of it.
As a once struggling medical student also of Indian descent, his experience resonated and then some with me.
November 30, 2022
couldnt put it down really good book thanks
June 20, 2023
Shawty what
October 12, 2016
I won a copy of this book in a giveaway .
This is the true story of how Vijay Jojo Chokal-Ingam gained admission into medical school by passing himself off as a black man.
I'd like to start by saying that's ingenious and witty! There are worse things then lying about your ethnicity to gain admission: lying about - your GPA and or your criminal record. How about faking your drug screen?
No patient has ever met their demise in the O.R. under the skillful hands of their surgeon because he or she was African American. Obviously Mr. Chokal-Ingam had the intelligence to gain admission on his own merits, he just lacked the proper pedigree. This book was both fascinating and funny and I give it two thumbs up!
This is the true story of how Vijay Jojo Chokal-Ingam gained admission into medical school by passing himself off as a black man.
I'd like to start by saying that's ingenious and witty! There are worse things then lying about your ethnicity to gain admission: lying about - your GPA and or your criminal record. How about faking your drug screen?
No patient has ever met their demise in the O.R. under the skillful hands of their surgeon because he or she was African American. Obviously Mr. Chokal-Ingam had the intelligence to gain admission on his own merits, he just lacked the proper pedigree. This book was both fascinating and funny and I give it two thumbs up!
October 16, 2016
*** Disclaimer won on Goodreads Giveaway. Interesting concept of "hacking the system" and ideas in addition to some context as to other people who have now received recognition ie Tucker Max (ie get more background inadvertently on them). Lot of vocabulary words used to look up and expand existing vocabulary. Furthermore the feud with sister Mindy gives rare additional post-texture which have yet to encounter in any book read to date (of which as of 10.15.16) articles are still appearing.
September 11, 2020
I found this book to be an interesting read. It shows why affirmative action should stop and why merit alone should be good, though I agree with the author and am glad he didn't become a doctor (sorry if that's a spoiler.) My son is now reading this book, a child of East Asian origin who has already personally seen the effects of AA. The book also was filled with humor and was very readable.
December 14, 2016
I won this book through Goodreads. A very entertaining read. Hard to believe things like this can happen. I did like the story.
January 6, 2017
Amazingly audacious adventure leading to some true insights
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews