I believe the meaning of tip and slot can vary a lot by school. A former nescac coach explained it to me this way: he was given a set # of tips and slots each year by admissions to use how he wished. He could bank them or trade with other sports, within limits. Whether he used a tip or a slot depended on the student and what the admissions rep told him about the student’s chances of admission. Generally, the strongest applicants with a high chance of admission would only require a tip; the more marginal or uncertain would require a slot. But in both cases, there was no mystery for the coach: admissions would tell him flat out that a kid would only need a tip, or that another kid would require a slot. In neither case was there a guarantee that the coach could communicate externally, but everyone inside the process viewed the admission ‘chances’ of each supported candidate as equally high. (In most cases he said the athlete never knew whether he used a tip or a slot because it didn’t matter—the level of support was the same, it’s just that the slots ‘cost’ him more. And, importantly, he would never use up a tip on a kid that needed a slot…he’d rather bank the tip or trade it).
Now, I think there are other places that use the phrase ‘tip’ when what they are describing is a less formal and far less robust level of support. For example, a coach who offers to have admissions flag an application or submits a large list of athletes she ‘likes’, some of which may get admitted but many of which won’t. This is why it’s important for athletes to have frank and direct discussions with the coach, and not assume that a ‘tip’ means the same thing everywhere.