Here is my timeline:
01/11/2017 - signed up online for Global Entry.
01/24/2017 at 05:00am - received an e-mail for conditional approval.
01/24/2017 at 09:35am - Logged in to the GE site to schedule my appointment. I live in the Washington DC area and we have three locations - Baltimore BWI Airport, Dulles IAD Airport and at CBP Headquarters. BWI's first available date was 04/15/2017 while IAD's first date was 03/14/2017 - two whole months! For CBP HQ in DC, the system said "No appointments available". Decided to log back in a couple of times to check for any cancellations. Suddenly... lo and behold... an appointment for 11:30am at HQ had opened on 01/26/2017, just two days from now!!! I could not believe my eyes, so immediately took it.
01/26/2017 at 11:20am - walked into CBP HQ and was greeted by a very friendly officer. Walked up to an officer, handed him my paperwork - he asked me about my name, if I had any customs violations, was I ever convicted of any crime. I tried to make a conversation, but he did not seem in a talkative mood. He took my fingerprints and a picture. Then he said I would receive an e-mail message if I was approved, handed me a brochure, told me the number is my KTN now and how to use the kiosk - I was done and on my way by 11:30am.
01/26/2017 at 11:37am - Received the e-mail message of approval. I was done!!