[jwslam]

My priority list if I were in your shoes:

0: Set your budget. You can get anything from $300 to $30000 if you tried. This will also tie into if you are getting something with better build quality.
1: Battery Life. This would also tie into screen size. More screen usually = bigger battery size, but also no increase in run time as it takes more power to run the screen. Make sure you're getting something rated for 8+ hours would be great. This would give you at least 6+ real world hours at average usage.
2: Connectivity. Make sure you get something that has USB C 3.2 to make it easy to connect charging and monitors with a single plug
3: Screen resolution: do not settle for less than 1920*1080. No excuses in 2021.
4: Keyboard layout - ties into screen size as well if you're looking for something with a number pad. Also make sure she is ok if you end up buying one with the french keyboards (the left shift and enter keys are a veto point for me)
5: Upgradable parts. Easiest ones are hard drive size (considerations for how much storage is going to cloud), and non-soldered RAM.
6: Processor - outside of the chromebook world, do not settle for anything with the words "Celeron" or "MediaTek". No exceptions

Low priority nice to have features:
Backlit keyboard - nice to have, not a dealbreaker for me.
Touch screen - i personally still feel windows is very lacking in this area. Unless you're going into the digitized pens for taking notes, in which case a separate iPad w/ pencil is usually the class leader
Wifi 6 - we're a bit far from benefiting from this
Screen quality / brightness - generally none are that bad, unless she's constantly working under direct sunlight.
360 hinge - Again, I personally don't find this adds value, but ask for her input on how she will use this / if she is using another Tablet style device.