Just wanted to share a success/luck story. I applied through GOES on 8/20, got conditional approval on 8/26. Had plans to fly out of LAX on 9/1. Spammed reload the day before my scheduled departure and got an appointment on 9/1 but for after my scheduled departure time.
Asked the office if they could squeeze me in, and they did so! Approved an hour later.
I'm not located in the US, so this was a HUGE win for me.