@GGNewton , sorry this has all become so stressful. I can only imagine how stressfulit must be to have an advisor whose advice is suspect.
As for being asked about other schools, sometimes the AO is trying to figure out what your decision process was and whether they were part of a thoughtful process (and whether you know what you’re looking for and whether they are it.) It’s less about "yielding their admitted students " than admitting the right students in the first place.
I think it’s easy when you are applying to see the whole system as out to get you, but honestly, everyone I know who has worked in BS admissions is super committed to young people and setting them up to succeed. A friend (AD) at an admittedly less competitive school (but still selective ) told me that what she loves most about her job is seeing "something " in a kid and then seeing them develop into it, especially when the spark wasn’t a blazing flame.