The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that UC San Diego School of Medicine used a discriminatory “shadow” review process that unlawfully affected admissions decisions. According to the DOJ, the school relied on a separate, informal mechanism to evaluate applicants, using hardship essays as a proxy for race. The DOJ claims this approach resulted in outcomes that disadvantage certain groups, specifically locking White and Asian students out of admission while admitting others at higher rates.
Fox News reports that Harmeet Dhillon, appearing in connection with the case, argues the admissions framework functioned in a race-discriminatory manner and points to the school’s own statistical admissions results. She also cites an alleged discrepancy in acceptance rates, stating that Black applicants are admitted at about twice the rate of White applicants.
The available reports describe allegations rather than findings, and they do not include details of the school’s full response or any final court decision. The matter is presented as a DOJ enforcement action alleging violations in the admissions process at the California medical school.
