In preparation for its annual “Fifty Most Beautiful” issue, Yale’s sweet-and-tender gossip mag The Rumpus has decided to go all People’s-Choice on our asses. This year, one of the coveted slots will be filled by popular vote. Students can nominate their favorite beefcakes and cream puffs by sending photos to the Rumpus staff, which has been uploading them like bejeezus to their Facebook page. The photo with the most Facebook likes by Wednesday at midnight will be the official Hotness Designee.

Judging from some of the photos, it’s really more of a popularity contest–or a What Kind of Doofus Hat Can YOU Wear Best? contest–than a beauty pageant. But that said, it would probably be pretty easy for IvyGate readers to swing the hell out of this competition. To help you along in your decision-making, IG has decided to endorse what it thinks are the worthiest candidates of the bunch.

See the full roundup after the jump!

This guy looks fun. And hot in a Doctor-Jekyll-meets-Bill-Nye-meets-Cat-In-The-Hat sort of way. But the real reason we’re endorsing him is because he knows how to sell himself. In a comment below his own photo, Spencer K. was careful to point out that, and we quote: “That’s a 5000 mL Erlenmeyer Flask, and the shirt says “REAL SCIENTISTS DO IT IN SITU.”‘

Can we just say that we love it in situ?

.

.

.

The ultimate in Darth Vader Syndrome. We have no idea what this guy looks like underneath all his gear, but if he sounds anything like James Earl Jones, who the hell cares? Not to mention that we’re suckers for a good breastplate. BODYSLAM US, BRO.

.

.

.

Oh, baby.

…we really just wanted to say that.

.

.

.

.

.

.

There’s nothing like Photoshop to make somebody beautiful! (Really–you should see us with a bit of Gaussian Blur.) Still, there’s no faking that impeccable bone structure. Or those unbelievably huge earrings. Or that look of slightly rebellious wounded-cougar desperation. Or what’s obviously a glass of human blood. No denying it: either this girl has been on the cover of Hamptons magazine, or she’s a vampire. Either way, we give her a thumbs up.

.

.

.

.

.

And finally–currently leading the pack with a whopping 647 likes–we have Yale’s very own Dean Mary Miller. Look at that foxy smile. We would have tried to sabotage the competition by submitting a photo of Harold Bloom’s jowls or something, but this is way better than anything we could have come up with. Go, Dean, go!