As the assistant director of admissions for the School of Law, Ramsey Bridges plays a huge role in determining the students who will comprise the next Georgia Law class.
An alumna of the law school, Bridges is now one of a small group of admissions professionals and faculty to evaluate students’ applications and decide who merits one of the school’s 220 available spots.
Bridges said that despite the fact that most applicants are not admitted, her job is much more than having to make decisions that disappoint some.
“A typical day now is lots of file reading,” she said. “We have a rolling admissions process, and every file is read by at least three people, so we are just working our way through.”
She also spends much of her time recruiting.
“We’ll go to Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., and we went to Miami this year,” she said.
She also recruits students to the law school from all over Georgia.
Bridges credits her experiences as a UGA law student with helping her relate to students’ concerns and being able to answer their questions. She believes that it’s advantageous to recruit for her alma mater.
“I think I have immediate credibility in that I have actually walked these halls as a student and studied in the law library for so many hours,” she said.
But coming back to the law school wasn’t what she had originally planned.
“I took a job with a firm in Atlanta that I had worked for during summers while in law school,” she said. “I actually had no initial plans to come back to the law school and leave the practice of law.”
But in November 2006 she joined the staff after her husband, Tripp, a 2004 alumnus of the law school, encouraged her to apply for a position he heard about while on business in Athens.
“I’ve loved coming back and working in the admissions office,” said Bridges. “It’s an easy thing to do every day: Sell a place that you enjoyed so much. And I feel 100 percent confident that everything I say [to prospective students] is something that I’ve actually experienced.”
In addition to recruiting and selecting future law students, Bridges also has been busy redesigning the law school admissions Web site.
Although the project encompassed all areas of the school, it was headed up by her office.
“We did a complete redesign of the site with an audience of prospective students in mind,” she said. “Everything from the design to writing text to arranging photo shoots and video shoots—we were intimately involved in almost every detail of the project.”
As a result of the down economy, law school applications have gone up dramatically. Scholarship dollars are limited, and Bridges has found herself playing the role of financial adviser to many potential students.
“I’ve had to really learn a lot more about financial aid resources and being able to help students who might have anticipated that their parents would help them pay for school—maybe that’s not an option anymore,” she said.
Bridges’ connection with the city of Athens goes even further than working at the state’s flagship university. She serves as a member of the Junior League, volunteering around town and will complete an Athens leadership class offered through the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce this spring. She also delivers Meals on Wheels for the Community Council on Aging.
Her experiences in the admissions office have helped foster a deeper understanding of her hometown, according to Bridges.
“I’ve learned a lot about the city of Athens and the economic development, industry and different things that are going on here, which is pretty great,” she said.
And Bridges is happy being back in Athens and at the law school.
“Having a job that you enjoy every day is incredibly important,” she said “It’s just nice to get up in the morning and to be able to do something to contribute to a place that you care about.”
