for me it was fast, about 2 weeks... In my class it varies from 2 weeks (myself and two others) to almost 1 year... It's all a grading/scoring system that nobody really understands. As for notice, you are offered a PIII, if you can't make it, they WILL re-schedule you for the next one, but they usually don't know when it's going to be until about 1 week before... so you have to remain somewhat flexible.