Beneath all the glitz and the glam, there are a few hard facts about the Miss Mississippi contestants. The contenders were analyzed after being divided into sub-groups to help illustrate what makes the average contestant.

This year, the average contestant is 20 years old, attends Mississippi State University, majors in the communications field and performs a vocal talent.

Eligible contestants must be between the ages of 17 and 23. This year, the average contestant is right in the middle at 20 years old with one 17 year old, seven 18-year-olds, nine 19-year-olds, ten 20-year-olds, eight 21-year-olds, four 22-year-olds and five 23-year-olds.

Multiple educational institutions around the state, and a few outside of the state, are represented by these ambitious ladies. Two attend school in Alabama, one in Tennessee and 41 attend Mississippi schools. Seven ladies attend community college and 37 are at a four-year institution.

The majority of the contestants attend Mississippi State University with 12 students competing for the crown. The University of Mississippi has 11 students in the running, the University of Southern Mississippi has six contestants, Delta State University has three, William Carey University, Mississippi Delta Community College and Hinds Community College have two contestants each and all other contestants are the only representative of their school.

“As far as schools, I feel like it’s usually pretty even, especially with State and Ole Miss,” Riddick said.

The chosen areas of study are as diverse as the contestants with two learning foreign languages, three in business or finance, six entering education, seven expanding their arts education through dance, vocal or musical theater and seven others are studying sciences with some focusing on pre-med, pre-dental or early entry pharmacy. Most popular seems to be the communications field with 12 studying a facet of communications like broadcast journalism or public relations.

Multiple sororities are also represented in the pageant, but from information gathered in their biographies at least four contestants are members of Delta Gamma.

The most popular names in the groups are Jessica, Katie, Hannah and Abigail with two contestants having each of those names, plus a Kasey and a Kaci. There are also three contestants who use a variation of the middle name Katherine along with their first names.

One trend has been consistent over the years…they want the crown.