Correct.
I spent two years editing Bill Walker's brief in Walker v. US where he attempted to get the courts to order Congress to call a convention based on those 400+ applications. His argument was that aggregation was unconstitutional, and Congress should have called a general convention sometime around 1895.
But before Walker began his effort, he reached out to the attorneys general in all 50 states by letter. Each and every attorney general showed no interest in forcing this issue. In short, no one wanted a general convention because the country didn't want one and wasn't ready for one.
So Bill Walker was arguing that a simple numerical count of State Applications, without regard to subject matter at all, is sufficient to trigger an Article V CALL from Congress. And was subsequently shot down by the Court for this line of reasoning.
Note bene: If the people have to act through their states — as the Constitution seems to require — then they better clearly tell their respective state representatives what it is that they want.
I imagine few would want to base Congress's CALL for an Article V COS on the basis of a "general convention." So far, only four States have applied for a COS on "general convention" grounds. Another 30 would be needed for this sort of Application to become effective.
Still, if Congress has 34 State Applications for same, Congress absolutely could not fail but to make a CALL on that basis — the basis of "aggregation" of closely similar States' complaints.
The 400+ State Applications received so far are all over the lot of subject matter. For the purposes of "aggregation," it gets even more complicated from there, in that it is clear that States making applications might — and have — rescind[ed] their prior applications, maybe to re-apply under different language, or maybe not to re-apply at all.
So We the People, though we know we have Article V power, working through our respective States, have no clue how to exercise it in a manner that can achieve the result we hope for. UNLESS we exert pressure on our State representatives, who alone can issue an Article V Application.
Don't anyone blame Congress for your dissatisfaction WRT the Article V COS question. Look closer to home.
Beyond that, take a look at the "pre-convention" preparation that is being done by the American Legislative Executive Council. They take the Article V COS opportunity deeply seriously, and are doing all in their power to prepare for one, orderly.
See the recent Georgia Application, for a COS around the subject matter of federal vs. state powers, fiscal responsibility, (including the subject matter of a balanced-budget amendment), and federal term limits. Georgia has been joined by three other States so far, in this particular manner of "addressing" the subject matter of a hoped-for COS. That leaves another 30 States needed, to impel this thing to be launched from Congress.
Concurrently, Georgia also has an Application for a CALL for a COS on the subject matter of a Balanced Budget Amendment. Twenty-eight States have been officially "aggregated"on this subject matter, leaving a deficit of only six States before Congress MUST act.
Methinks Georgia is an amazingly good member of the American body politic, and an example to other States.
And I thank the good people of Georgia for that being the case.