Overall, schools want kids who will create the community that they want to have. I think everyone is overthinking this safety and yield equation. If you fit, you will likely be admitted. Even if, or especially if, you are a likely to be a top student in some way. Now, if the AO overhears you post-interview telling your parents how you humored them by visiting the school but you would only go there if you didn’t get in anywhere else (yes, this has happened - you never know who is in the other bathroom stalls), all bets are off!
While everyone is thinking about the downside, remember too that they may be figuring out what they would need to do to get you! If you are FP, maybe they are figuring that a merit scholarship could entice you away from a name school. (Yes, this happens. And it often works!) If your family has all attended another school, they probably want to understand your interest in their school but that doesn’t mean they won’t admit you. (Again, it happens. ) Otoh, if they feel like you have something that is really valuable/critical to the school but you have conveyed that they are at the bottom of your list, they may want to make sure they extend an offer to a kid who is likely to attend and brings that critical thing to them. It’d be risky to bet on you for something so important. Remember, this is about having the right people in their class in September for most schools, not about a yield %. Think of it as enrollment management, not yield protection.
Most BS realize that it’s hard to get a class bonded when it includes kids who aren’t thrilled to be there. That’s what they are looking for. But also know that although you may consider certain schools “second tier”, there are students every year who choose those schools over ones you consider “first tier”. So those second tier schools clearly didn’t turn down kids who were applying to brand name schools and it even paid off for them.
It’s easy to feel at this point in the process that admissions is out to get you. They are not. Really. If you did your homework in selecting schools, there’s a fit for you.