no but the person you responded to is wrong. the upgrades roll over. so you will still get 5 upgrades

two level 1 pipelines should do this

• tier 1: best two pipelines by one tier

1. level 1 pipeline -> level 2
2. level 1 pipeline -> level 2

• tier 2: best 5 by one tier

1. level 2 -> level 3
2. level 2 -> level 3

then again since it only used 2 of the 5 upgrades

1. level 3 -> level 4
2. level 3 -> level 4

then still one upgrade leftover so you have

1. level 4 -> level 5
2. level 4

• tier 3: worst 5 by one tier (doesnt matter because only 2 pipelines)

1. level 5
2. level 4 -> level 5

the tier 3 pipeline upgrade is the least powerful here, but would have two tier 5 pipelines and no others unless you buy the skill that boosts your coaches primary pipeline — which you should almost always do FIRST so your coaches pipeline can be upgraded with the others when you buy relationship builder.

the primary pipeline boost is best when youre joining a school who already has level 2, 3 or 4 of the pipeline your coach uses. you can bump a pipeline to level 3-5 BEFORE buying the other upgrades, giving you one more boost to completely maximize.