Del. student named America's hottest college girl

Fantasy Football. March Madness. Competition is everywhere. College students have an innate drive to win and partake in contests among peers.

The popular student Web site CollegeHumor.com recognizes users' desire to contend through its "America's Hottest College Girl 2007" competition. The contest is based on user-generated feedback.

The first round of voting began on Feb. 20. On April 5, university junior Amber Stratton was announced the winner. Stratton went head-to-head with Megan Dedousis, a fellow university junior, in the final round.

Stratton, a nutrition and dietetics major, said many of her friends convinced her to enter the contest.

"I thought it was a cool way for the girls to get exposure into the modeling world," Stratton said. "It was a fun contest and the prizes were a big incentive."

Streeter Seidell, the front page editor at CollegeHumor.com, said the site received 1,000 applications and its editors selected the top 64 candidates.

"This was only the second year we did the competition," Seidell said. "We did it in the fall of 2005 and then decided to sync up with March Madness so we skipped 2006 and brought it back this year.

"Two weeks before voting started we posted the bracket and let anyone with a College Humor account fill one out."

He said each day of the contest users voted on certain match-ups and after each round of voting, half of the girls were eliminated. The different levels are the Sweet 16, the Elite 8, Final Four and then the finals.

The first place winner of the March Madness-modeled fantasy bracket won $1,000, second-place prize was $500 and third place received $250, Seidell said.

As winner of the "Hottest College Girl in America" Stratton will receive a $10,000 reward, a modeling contract with BustedTees.com and a trip for two to New York City, where a party will be thrown in her honor, he said.

Seidell said there was no controversy surrounding the contest.

"People would say the contest was rigged because the girls were allowed to change their pictures," he said. "The first year we did it, the complaint was there was only one picture per girl."

Jake Hurwitz, writer for CollegeHumor.com, stated in an e-mail message he has been heading up the contest from an editorial standpoint. He has been the one in contact with all of the contestants and press regarding the contest.

"I do think the contest has been a success," Hurwitz said. "We had a really great pool of girls this year and in addition to being gorgeous, they were all incredibly polite and genuine.

"We had a few girls from the same schools coming in this year, but we figured they would never meet in the final round."

Stratton said she was surprised that two Delaware students were the final two.

"I thought it was only one girl from each school," she said. "It was cool Delaware made it to the end with both of us."

Dedousis, a fashion merchandising major, stated in an e-mail message her family and friends provided support along the way.

"I'm still in shock that I made it to the final round," Dedousis said. "Every round I was sweating bullets, thinking it was my last round.

"I'm just happy I made it that far, considering my pictures weren't very provocative like most of the other girls in the competition."

Hurwitz said the contest generated a lot of user response.

"The week it went up we were getting page views in the millions," he said. "Each round had tens of thousands of votes and people filled out fantasy brackets."

The party thrown in Stratton's honor will be a lot of fun, Hurwitz said.

"Basically just imagine a frat party, only instead of the beer-stained floor in a basement, we'll be partying in some swanky bar," he said. "And we've got the hottest college girl in America in attendance."

Stratton said winning the contest has been a huge confidence booster. She was involved in online contests at Break.com and for the radio station WMMR in Philadelphia. Stratton also received second place in "Maxim's Hometown Hotties."

She said she does not plan on wasting the money.

"I plan to start paying off my student loans with the money," Stratton said. "That's what my mom wants me to do, so I think it's a good idea."

Sophomore Mike Coughlin said he has been an official member of CollegeHumor.com for approximately six months.

"I saw that College Humor was doing a bracket around the same time as March Madness," Coughlin said. "The heterosexual male in me thought it was a good offer to not only pick the hottest girl but possibly have the chance to win a $1,000 for it."

He said he was surprised that two women from Delaware were in the final two because the contest is divided into different divisions, but only in that sense.

"Obviously, Delaware has the best looking girls," Coughlin said.