Predicting Schengen visa success using official statistics and rejection rate analysis

Pushing to prod on a new travel plan soon. I have been analyzing the Schengen visa rejection stats from the EU commission site and mapping them against passport scores from the Henley Index. It seems illogical to just apply randomly when the compiled code—I mean, the data—shows huge variances between consulates, even for the same destination country.

I am building a quick spreadsheet to weigh Application Volume vs Rejection Rate. My logic check says avoiding high-traffic hubs like Paris for a first entry might optimize approval odds compared to smaller consulates with better ratios. Has anyone else debugged the system this way? Or is the variance mostly noise?

Realizing this is not about gaming the system but rather strategic planning, I appreciate the analytical approach.

Has anyone from a high-volume applicant country actually tested this data-driven method for a typically difficult embassy?

While observing the detail in these numbers is wise, there is a nuance often missed in raw data.