Early February brought excitement and exultation when Adam was sent an invitation to interview at the University of Calgary…and disappointment when the University of Alberta rejected his application pre-interview. The last few weeks have been a storm of emotion (mostly stress) as our family as struggled with being carless and preparing for Adam to get to Calgary for his interview this coming Saturday. He had no suit that fit, no dress shoes, and no transportation. So he bought a nice grey suit at a good price (much less than we expected), graphite-colored shirt, dress shoes, and a pink tie (and he looks fantastic). He reserved a rental car. He’s going to have to stay in a hotel Friday night because his interview is first thing Saturday morning. Lucy and I will be staying behind so the weekend is as complication and stress-free as possible for him. He tried to get a copy of Doing Right from the school library but it was on hold until May! So he got something similar…but it was a medical ethics book written from a US perspective. So I convinced him to shell out the $70 bucks for a copy of Doing Right and have it rushed. It’s reading week and Adam will spend his time off from class preparing for his interview (and attempting to potty train Lucy, oh joy). It may or may not arrive before the interviews (fingers crossed).

The pressure is high. All our proverbial eggs are in a University of Calgary basket. Only 33% percent of prospective students interviewed will be accepted. If Adam isn’t in that 33% that means no med school for us, at least not this year. It’s not at all uncommon for students not to make it the first time they apply. But being a somewhat “non-traditional” applicant, and being a bit older than many of his fellow applicants the longer it takes the harder it will be on our family. In other words…we’re really stressed.

We know we have to move this summer one way or the other, because there are no more classes Adam can take in Medicine Hat and he needs to transfer to a BA program. It’s so frustrating to look for affordable housing and have to eliminate choices because of family discrimination. Technically Canadians are supposed to be protected from landlords refusing to rent to families with children (except in buildings for the 65+ crowd). But the discrimination policies aren’t always laid out clearly and are not universally enforced.

Basically it sucks.

You know what else sucks?

Having to wait until MAY to find out if Adam is accepted or not.

Everyone knows medical school is hard and stressful. But very few people warn you how stressful the application process can be. Prospective students: consider yourself warned.