Brown University freshman Dhruv Gaur wins 'Jeopardy!' College Championship, $100,000 grand prize
Tufts University freshman William Scott finishes 2nd; University of Central Florida sophomore Hannah Sage claims 3rd
Dhruv Gaur, a freshman at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, won the "
Jeopardy!" College Championship on Friday, claiming the $100,000 grand prize and earning a berth in the next edition of the "
Jeopardy!" Tournament of Champions.
William Scott, a freshman at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, finished in second place and took home $50,000. Hannah Sage, a sophomore at the University of Central Florida in Orlando came in third and collected $25,000.
"Nobody can really walk into a competition like this with 14 other incredibly talented and brilliant students and immediately expect to win it all - I know I certainly didn't," Gaur said after his win. "The idea of winning the whole tournament didn't even cross my mind until somewhere during the first game of the finals. I was really just trying to take it one step at a time."
Gaur, who is originally from Gainesville, Georgia, and is studying public health and economics at Brown, said he's not yet sure how he will spend his $100,000 grand prize.
"It's kind of boring, but since I'm not entirely sure what the future holds, I'm just going to save it until I need it for grad school or to pursue an opportunity I might really want in the future," Gaur said. "My little brother is really interested in investing, so I'll give him some so he can give the stock market a go, and I promised my friends I'd take them out to dinner, but the vast majority is being saved for later."
Gaur said that the personal relationships he forged during the competition were the highlight of his participation in the "
Jeopardy!" College Championship.
"I really loved spending time with the other contestants, it was probably the best part of this entire experience," he said. "(Finalists) William and Hannah are both great competitors and were a real challenge to play against, but, more importantly, (they are) really friendly, wonderful people."
Scott, who plans to major in computer science and quantitative economics at Tufts, said it is "surreal" to have performed so well in the tournament.
"Meeting all of the contestants right before the competition, I was really impressed and somewhat intimidated, so I definitely didn't expect to do that well," he said. "Looking back, the other contestants probably felt the same way as I did. And, as anyone who has competed on or watched '
Jeopardy!' will likely tell you, the right categories make a huge difference."
Like Gaur, Scott said spending time with his fellow contestants was one of his favorite parts of the competition.
" 'Jeopardy!' somehow manages to select a group of some of the most kind, funny, intelligent and interesting people I've ever met," Scott said. "As for Dhruv and Hannah, we of course had some healthy competition during the finals, but Hannah and I were both really happy for Dhruv after his win."
Sage, who came in third, exceeded her own expectations when she made it into the tournament finals.
"I never would have imagined I would've made it to the finals and was so happy that I did," she said. "No matter what happened during those two matches I was extremely excited about whatever the outcome would be and was just proud of myself for having accomplished so much."
Sage said it felt "wonderful" to represent the University of Central Florida, where she is pursuing a degree in mathematics with a concentration in mathematical biology and a minor in art history.
"I am very proud to be a Knight and to be a representative from one of the few public universities in the tournament this year," she said. "I am showing that, no matter what school you go to, you can accomplish whatever goals you have and can even exceed them."
