your portfolio is what matters and especially with such a low gpa, you better polish the shit out of it get good recommendations and I would honestly look into doing career discovery at Harvard or Cornell or something to get a foot in the door and get a body of work for the portfolio, it is almost the sole thing on admission I swear it seems like it comes down to a yes pile and a no pile of portfolios. Oh and that M.arch is also going to cost about 150K.

http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/academic-programs/career-discovery/

Since my undergrad is in a major outside of architecture, I feel like my portfolio won't be the most important factor.

Wrong. Your portfolio is still a major player, if not the most important one. They want to see what kind of design work you are capable of and whether your passion truly lies in design/architecture. All non-architecture majors are judged by their portfolio just like the architecture majors, just in a different category.

Since your GPA is pretty low, your GRE scores might suplement that.

However, you are categorically wrong about the folio.  I too came from a non-architectural and literally spent months on my folio.

I am always curious as to what entitles people who have a mediocre academic background to think they need to be in an "ivy league setting."

You really do need to research this more.  Perhaps attend some open houses from different schools and set your goals to a more realistic level.  Search the threads - many people have posted their non-arch background folio.

A great letter of intent/purpose will be super important too.

Why not U of O or UW?  With a 2.7, you have to be realistic that, unless your portfolio is top drawer, getting into an Ivy League will be tough.  The local schools might be more doable, and cheaper.

Are you willing to go to good public universities?

Observant, even at UW or UO, or any other public school, a 2.7 is a longshot.

2.8 gpa 164Q/161V/5.0W, admitted to GSD/GSAPP/University of Michigan. Rejected at all other schools.

Apply broadly. You have scores that are at the top of the applicant pool, but with that GPA some schools will not accept you. Yale in particular is a schtickler. You need to apply broadly anyways: I'm talking like 8 or 10 schools. Pick schools you like and just fucking go for it. You don't have the luxury of being able to pick and choose and spend less money on the application cycle. You need to go for all. Spend a sentence in your personal essay about the low GPA: that sentence must address why this happened, what you did, and how it's not you. It needs to be a good sentence :]

You need to have an analytical portfolio, not just one that looks good. You need to show you are capable of design thinking more than those that have the benefit of higher GPAs. Best of luck to you, it can be done!

Thank you so much for all the replies. Very helpful in several different ways!