Hello!
I am posting on behalf of my friend (I’m helping her look for colleges; she’s a senior). Given that I’m not her, I’m only able to give a very superficial description of what she’s done.
She has around a 3.5 GPA, has been on the honor roll in previous years at her high school, doesn’t have extra-curricular activities (though she’s had a couple of jobs, and she’s starting journalism this year). She isn’t taking any honors or AP courses, and she hasn’t taken the SAT or ACT yet.
What she might have going for her is that she’s low-income, and has a pretty rough story (no parents: mom passed away in the 9th grade, her biological dad isn’t in her life, and she rarely sees the man she considers dad; she’s a ward of the court, her mom was an addict (no relation to her death), and a lot of her friends have died due to accidents/suicide). She also really likes to write, and is part of her school’s journalism team this year.
She lives in Pittsburgh, and that’s pretty much all she knows. From my talks with her, she has a need to get away, but given that Pittsburgh is all she’s ever known, she’s pretty attached, so I’ve been looking at colleges within a 300 mile-radius. Plus she’s engaged (I think she’s getting married after she graduates), and her fiancé is in the Army Reserves, and I read that it’s incredibly hard to relocate (if anyone has any experience with relocating for college please mention that in the comments).
She doesn’t really know what she wants to study, but in the past she’s mentioned English, and is interested in studying law (so somewhere with good pre-law advising would be awesome). I’ve gathered a list of colleges mainly based off her GPA (I think it’s a decent mix of reaches, match, and safety schools) plus where she’s expressed interest in, so any critiques or suggestions are welcome (schools that don’t have a foreign language admission requirement and good financial aid are best) 
I’ve also had some friends at Ivies tell me that she has a small chance of getting in if she presents herself the right way. Thoughts?
Carnegie Mellon
University of Pittsburgh
Duquesne University
Chatham University
Washington and Jefferson College
College of Wooster
Oberlin College
Gettysburg College
Bridgewater College
SUNY College at Geneseo
Loyola University Maryland
Notre Dame of Maryland University
Towson University
List looks solid except CMU. With a 3.5 UW she’ll need some killer SATs 2100 and up to have a good chance there. I would take it off. Might want to look at GWU as a low reach. Also maybe Case Western.
Oberlin and Gettysburg are really, really different. I highly doubt that the same person would like/fit in at both.
Towson is awesome!