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Oxford girl with beauty and brains on verge of unique double firstBeauty contestants are not usually known for their great intellect or grasp of world affairs. + D. z8 T- X( h# J6 e$ {But Lois Day - the first Oxford University student to make the finals of the Miss Great Britain contest - is determined to change all that. For Lois there will be no platitudes about working for charity - instead she can talk about the MSc in Financial Economics she is studying at the university’s Saïd Business School. ' K, {! O* E- I) s6 F7 ^- c
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That puts the 23-year-old at odds with her main rivals for the title, including Amanda Harrington, from Birkenhead - the latest winner of Nuts magazine’s Bedroom Babes competition - and Fay Bevan, from Newport, whose CV details a ‘four-page spread in Knicker Draw’. Lois, who was born in London and moved to Ireland as a child, is one of 50 finalists for next month’s competition after making it through to the finals of Miss England last year. "I absolutely loved the experience and I decided that I really wanted to try again. I’m so excited," she said. Lois was an undergraduate at Trinity College in Dublin, where her first-class degree in Economics and Social Studies helped secure her place at Oxford. She said: "The course is hard work - everyone laughs at us 'geeks' in the business school for working so much. The exams are horrendous but I love the course as it is great for preparing for the work I want to go on to do." Lois, who is lining up an internship in a New York investment bank when she graduates, defended the pageant against claims it was sexist. "I’m a real girls’ girl - I love dressing up but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being pretty and a feminist. This competition is about celebrating all the best parts of women - their presence, personality and looks." Lois’s mother Liz, who runs a hotel in southern Ireland, said the whole family, including Lois’s two sisters, would be in London on May 21 to cheer her on.