Coming slightly tardy to this party but echo what classicalmama said in terms of seeing “soft support.” We had this happen precisely with Harvard - our (very seasoned) counselor called it Support with a capital “S” and support with a lowercase “s” - or a slightly boosted chance at a side door to admissions. Slot vs. being included on a list of 'hopes" were two different things, we were counseled, so, yes, definiitely two tiers in our sport in our experience at least with that particular school.