For me it was really fast. I went to a seminar that told you all about the surgeries in April 08, decided the band was what i wanted in May 08 during which that time I got the approval from my doctor, the psych eval, bloodwork and all that. Then in June I started the pre-op classes my surgeons required and completed those at the end of july. after that I was able to talk my surgeons into setting my surgery date for middle of August that way I could heal before classes started, if I wasnt able to do that i woulda had to wait till winter break! lol so for me it all went pretty quick.