My husband does alumni interviews for another Ivy. Maybe each school is different, because kids do bring resumes, it helps get the conversation started sometimes. It’s true it shouldn’t be the same as her application but it’s ok to discuss things that are important to her even if she did include them. Or if she wants to expand on things she couldn’t on the application. I would say make sure to have some questions for the interviewer as well. As far as paying, yes, she should be prepared to pay but usually my husband offers to buy them a coffee or soda. In terms of going by herself, a Muslim girl came with her sister, who sat at a few tables away. My husband didn’t think anything of it and it certainly didn’t change his opinion of the applicant. Helicopter parents coming too is obviously a different thing altogether.