Hurry up and wait, as always.
As OTT mentioned above, not necessarily "as always". A datapoint: I originally went through the whole DIRCOM application process in late 97 / early 98. The paperwork went in, and then I heard nothing for months and months. My recruiter had moved on, so there was no one to take my phone calls, and apparently no record of me ever applying. I just chalked it up to a broken bureaucracy (an opinion not altered much in the intervening years....) and went on my way. Until I got a cell phone call late on a Tuesday afternoon in August of 99, when the caller said "This is CDR so-and-so, if you want your comission you have to come in and get sworn in by COB tomorrow." So presto, 24 hours later I was an ensign, and 3 weeks later began drilling.
What has changed in the intervening years is unclear to me, but IGM so I'm good... :icon_tong