Application timeline

Here's a rough timeline of my Peace Corps application process, which will have spanned over a year by the time I depart for Sierra Leone.  I'll do my best to recount these events, although the exact dates are a little fuzzy.

March 2012 - Submitted Peace Corps application

April 2012 - Interview with UW Madison campus representative

May 2012 - Follow-up phone interview with regional (Chicago) recruiter

May/June 2012 - Nomination for service as a secondary education science teacher in sub-saharan Africa

August 2012 - Completed medical pre-clearance evaluation form (online)

October 2012 - Received medical pre-clearance

November 2012-January 2012 - Waited patiently/wondered regularly if the Peace Corps had forgotten about me

December 2012 - Graduated from the UW

January 2013 - Heard from Peace Corps headquarters in D.C., to whom I promptly forwarded my official transcripts and answers to a brief questionnaire, which I can only imagine served to gauge whether my dedication to the Peace Corps had dwindled over the past few months.

January 25, 2013 - Official invitation to serve in Sierra Leone as a secondary education science teacher received via e-mail

January 25, 2013 - Accepted invitation to serve

February 2013 - Received a giant packet in the mail containing all the resources necessary for preparing myself for service (passport application information, volunteer handbook, financial information, etc.)

March 2013 - Received invitation to Google group for all education volunteers, where I informally met my fellow volunteers for the first time

April 2013 - Completed and submitted all immunizations and physical/dental exams

May 2013 - Received final medical clearance

May 2013 - Received staging information and booked a flight to Philly for staging event.

June 17, 2013 - Staging in Philadelphia

June 18, 2013 - Depart for Sierra Leone

Notes:

• The period between receiving the nomination and receiving the invitation is generally long, slow and moderately stressful; but don't worry, they haven't forgotten about you.
• After you receive the official invitation, the PC bombards you with an overwhelming amount of information about the country you'll be serving in and all the preparations you need to make before departure.  After months of hearing nothing, this is quite exciting...until you realize how much there is to do and how difficult it will be to keep your head on straight.  Get the important stuff out of the way first (passports, visas, and doctor/dentist appointments).  The PC will regularly send you e-mail reminders about the littler things.
• Until you receive medical clearance (which doesn't happen until about a month before staging), you can't be 100% sure you'll actually be following through with all of this, even though you're supposed to be making serious preparations.  This will always be weighing on the back of your mind, but it doesn't do any good to fret about it.