I had contacted a lot of NPC groups December of 1999 and heard back from a few within a few days (never heard back from a good number of them). I had narrowed the list down to about 3 and was contacted by the alumnae presidents about a week afterwards (beginning of January). AOII invited me to an outing in mid-January and we hit it off. I filled out the paperwork, sent it in and was initiated with the NM class at Michigan State on March 25, 2000. I also joined them in the pledge ceremony as well as some of the new member classes - which I'm glad I did because I got to know the women of the chapter very well. I also became an adviser for the chapter for the next two years.
To answer the question: from initial contact to initiation was about 3 months - and I had not known any of the members prior to contact.
Sarah