I ammmmmm so happy. My GC was just approved so that I do not need to wait. I have to say I am very lucky in term of the approval speed and my time frame. I wish everyone good luck with your GC application. I applied DIY using the templates sold by billzhao at MIT immigration board. I am not advertising for him but his is really good at least to my case :). But i suggest if you have complicated case, you'd better get a lawyer. I have been a silent observer on this web and got a lot of useful info. It is my turn to do something. I am providing my info and hopefully some one here finds useful.
I am a EE phd, working at a medium sized company. I have 1 first author paper and 1 other paper. I emailed 10 people I know for the reference letters. 8 agreed to write me one. 2 made changes so I used 6 reference letters. One was from a leader of a national lab. I am not sure how important this letter is, but I think the number of letters is not as important as the quality. I would not suggest submit really weak applications without thorough preparation. One of my friends rushed the application and got denied without RFE.
RD NIW 140/485 RD 4/20/05, 140 AD 6/16/05, FP 7/7/05. 485 LUD 9/2, 9/7, 9/14 AD 9/15/05!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Again, best wishes to everyone.