You needn’t tie ECs to a major at all. Do sports or walking dogs at the shelter or working at a grocery store tie to major?
What you do need is a balanced list.
When you say top, make sure there’s an assured and affordable safety in there. Alabama and UAH kids will be working the same jobs as Purdue and Michigan. Easy to get into Arizona is strong in aero. Florida Tech kids are prevalent at NASA.
Not saying to not go for the heavies. But make sure you have two easy and affordable.
ABET accreditation is what matters and while less schools offer aero, MECHE is a great sub.
Mine turned down Purdue for Bama yet interned with Ga Tech kids who he outperformed given he was invited back a second summer and they weren’t. And works with Purdue/Michigan/Cal Poly but also W Michigan, Buffalo, Akron.
You’d be amazed at the where doesn’t matter to the level you think short of maybe a couple schools.
But she should do the activities she wants - and she should ensure a few safeties bcuz she can do just as well - and often times you save money over the big boys. The kid choosing a UAH over Michigan is saving $250k. So another thing to think about.
Best of luck. If you apply right, you have zero reason to be a nervous mom assuming she’s prepared academically to the rigors of engineering.