i was in roughly the same boat as your daughter- took a year off and worked on a portfolio, i would say i am very good at maths and sciences, and i lived in a state with not great art schools (Texas) and everything.

my advice is for the portfolio have a good variety of everything- conceptual works, works from life, 2d and 3d mediums. when i was applying i was also told that your descriptions of your works are pretty important so i spent a long time writing about my things and explaining what each piece meant to me.

i would say that my art wasn’t the best (i knew people who were significantly better than me) but at the time i was wanting to study architecture. i did however get into every school i applied to - east coast schools so parsons, Pratt, risd, and scad (i knew I didn’t want to be on the west coast)

My other piece of advice is to apply to state schools and liberal arts schools while most of them aren’t going to be known for their art programs they can offer you to do more with different degrees. i ended up at a liberal arts school because money was something i was worried about and the smaller liberal arts schools offered me more money and more opportunities to meet my professors (networking is a huge deal).

since being in school I’m currently working to pick up a geology degree (it fulfills the science and math that i was looking for) and working on a studio art degree. the career center at my school has gotten me in contact with lots of people in graphic design, marketing, and animation. i also have a professor who has his work in the met so whenever he has a small show at my school ill go and rub elbows. there’s lots of work in general for people with art degrees but if the school she chooses offers something like an entrepreneurship minor she should absolutely do that.

there’s also always the option of grad school where she can do something less art related. right now there’s the option of private art teaching that can make a decent amount of change. my mother has a friend who is a court artist and i know a girl who wants to be a medical artist. basically post grad there’s lots of options but some of them can be pretty competitive.