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My suggestions, for what it's worth:
1. Strip, don't sand. Sanding will take you down to new wood, and it will not then, have darkened with age, as someone pointed out happens with cherry. Table will not match chairs.
2. Where the grain has opened, and you want to fill, use a filler that is slightly darker than the wood. The wood will continue to darken, and with time, will match the filler.
3. Choose a stain, other than MinWax. MinWax uses a lot of solvent, (over price + profits, I'm sure). That was why you had to put on 5 coats in first effort. I'm sure it was tough to get 'color' to the wood. For doing-it-yourself, I like gel stains. Bartley was my favorite, but they seem to have gone out of business. Maybe you'll still find some on the shelf at a Mom+Pop paint store - not likely at Lowes. Gel stains are wiped on by rags, is easy to avoid lap marks, and if you have sap wood (lighter color), it's easier to apply more stain to darken and match with darker wood. Be sure to keep it wet, working across the surface. What do I mean by that ? Start the job and complete the job - don't stop in the middle, allowing the edge of the fresh stain to dry, and then come back to the job later, expecting to pickup where you left off. You'll have a lap mark there that you can't get rid of.
4. Choose a sealer (if used) and a topcoat compatible with the stain, if necessary. If you used MinWax, use polyurethane topcoat. If you used a different stain, read the label.
5. High gloss finishes will show any flaws or dust, more readily than semi-gloss or satin finishes. Also, the later two are easier on the eyes (in that order) for desk or table tops. If you apply the topcoat by brush, a cooler day is better than a hot day - it will give more time for the brush marks to flow out. If you don't have a choice of days, then do it at the end of the day, when it's cooler. Don't put anything on the table for several days. It will take a week before lacquer is fully dry, a month for polyurethane to fully dry. If you put on multiple coats, leave days between coats. Probably the biggest error made in finishing, is rushing the job.
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