That’s why I am reticent to apply, because I don’t wanted to wake up every morning and look myself in the mirror as a rejected applicant.
The other approach is to set up a page on the likes of https://geyser.fund and let the anonymous sats flow in. If no sats come in, so be it, but at least you don’t have to shake off that rejected applicant feeling.
Maybe something like the Michelin star system; it’s in total secret, the restaurants don’t apply or even know they are being reviewed, they just get the star and listing.