In my previous attempts at using the Applications API to download applications across 170+ opportunities, I found that some opportunities' applications were consistently not being downloaded. After opening up a case, I learned that this issue arises when it comes to "automatch" scholarships. Below is a summary of what the Blackbaud Support personnel explained to me.
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Automatch opportunities have two different types of applications matched into them: "actualized" and "virtual" applications. Only actualized applications are exported from the Applications API, not "virtual" applications.

In order to "actualize" the applications, and force them to remain in the opportunity even if they become unqualified, one of the following actions must be taken:

• An application is moved in to a category other than submitted or drafted

• An application is manually applied, or force applied, in to the opportunity

• An application is assigned to be reviewed at the opportunity level

• An administrator has answered an administrator question on the opportunity

The applications that are downloading from the API are the actualized applications. The "virtual" applications have not been acted on as above so do not export out of the API. This is the same behavior as the applications listed under Opportunity >> Portfolios >> Opportunities.
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I'm requesting the Applications API be updated to also export the virtual applications. There is one primary reason and two secondary reasons why I need all applications to be exported, not just "actualized" ones:
P1. For downloading all applications of opportunities that will not be reviewed inside the Academic Works system.
S1. For generating a custom Excel file that makes it easier for reviewers to review an applicant once rather than once per scholarship for which that applicant is eligible.
S2. For generating custom statistical reports

For P1, there are some opportunities whose scholarship recipients are identified and awarded in an hours-long meeting. For these opportunities, sometimes the eligibility criteria cannot be determined strictly from the opportunity's qualifications. If we did try to define such qualifications, it might actually filter out eligible students. Thus, we won't be reviewing such applicants using Academic Works review process. Rather, it's easier to run a few different searches and choose a recipient from that. While Academic Works' search criteria can be used, it's not as flexible or powerful as Excel, especially when multiple columns with relationships are involved.
Thus, rather than using Academic Works' interface to navigate throughout multiple opportunities' applications and using its limited search ability to find such students, it can be much faster and easier to download the same information into an Excel file, and then use Excel and its features to find, display, and identify the eligible applicants whom we want to award across multiple scholarships.

For S1, there are some opportunities that have the same or very similar eligibility criteria and have a lot of applicants. As a result, the reviewers end up reviewing the same student multiple times. If I can download all the applications for those opportunities into an Excel file, I can use Excel and its features to make it possible for the reviewers to review an applicant that appears in multiple scholarships once. This would save those reviewers a lot of hours.

For S2, here are a few of the custom statistical reports I would like to create:
1. Variations of this idea: "Of those who applied, which students were eligible for a scholarship, whether they got awarded or not?" (e.g. for how many scholarships were they eligible? Does that number change between different demographics? etc.)
2. Variations of this idea: "Of those who applied, which students were ineligible for a scholarship?" (e.g. Does that number change between different demographics? etc.)