It’s quite possible that these new applicants simply had no real idea as to just what the BI process entailed.
Way back, when I first started applying for IC jobs requiring TS clearances, I certainly had no idea what was involved in the application cycle. I just assumed that they would contact a few references and check police records, and maybe question the applicant about any travel to Communist countries (my experience dates back to the late Cold War period). I was certainly overwhelmed and flustered by the whole process, which has only multiplied in scope and length since those days, the end of the Cold War a decade later notwithstanding.
The same may well likely be true of first-time applicants today.