This isn't the word-for-word answer to my question as that would have to be a whole essay, but here is the reading of Juliet I'd encourage and I'm happy to discuss the whole essay and its rubric during the interview:
The most common answer to this question that students come up with is saying Juliet is innocent/naive to begin with and then becomes brave through her love for Romeo. Some might even say that she's mostly passive throughout the play, a victim of fate, love, etc., as this is how she is often portrayed in performances of the play (her darkest, most significant monologues are cut from practically all cinematic productions at least). However, a pupil who has engaged deeply with the text will be able to analyse how this is not the case. Juliet does not snap and change suddenly at any point in the play. She is strong-willed, intelligent, in control, and active in pursuing what she wants from the beginning till the end, and there is textual evidence of this consistently from scene to scene. One should argue that she does not change, but rather develops, as she goes from being an inexperienced, circumspect prepubescent girl, with great potential for heroic status, to a girl wise beyond her years who has actualised every bit of her dramatic potential by the play's end.