Thank you for the responses. Much appreciated. Yes legacy x 2, captain of the HS team that placed 3rd in the nation and beyond obsessed with dance. 
Lots of APs (I think 4 or 5 her Jr year). I think what I heard however is that the early applicants are a more “self selective group” of very capable students and I understand that the “pool” is more competitive. Hence my worry about her applying early. I know it precludes other schools but she’s pretty much set at UCLA (offered position this summer) which would put her in LA, allow her to dance on a professional company she was invited into, etc. And yet, she really, really would like to be up at Stanford.
I have tried and tried to get her to look at USC. To be honest, I think it’s just personal with her. She doesn’t like the location and when she went to visit, she had a very snooty bunch of kids show her around. It just turned her off. I try to tell her that 4-5 kids don’t make a school but it just shows you how important those little tours can be to make or break someone’s impression of a school. Granted she’s 17 and probably too young to see past it, but so are so many other kids who leave schools with negative impressions after an hour long tour!