I apply and if I don't hear back by the time I need to finalize my plans, I just cancel my application. I don't do much route shopping, but if I know I'm going to be in an area where there are open shops, I do try to pick one or two up. But I've stopped waiting till the last minute to find out if I got a shop or not.
If you have a good relationship with a scheduler, it can't hurt to let him or her know you'll be finalizing your route on X day and if you haven't heard back you'll have to cancel. But I don't know if that will do anything to hurry the decision....
I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.