UCSD Grad Student Wins Big on Jeopardy! Game Show

Ioana Patringenaru | August 18, 2008

Aaron Schroeder, a UC San Diego graduate student in economics, won close to $130,000 on Jeopardy!

Aaron Schroeder has always had a knack for remembering facts. So the UC San Diego graduate student in economics didn’t cram before heading out to Los Angeles to become a contestant on Jeopardy! In the end, Schroeder’s memory delivered, making him a five-time champion on the game show and allowing him to win close to $130,000 in prize money.

The 26-year-old explained he had always wanted to be on Jeopardy!, but didn’t get his chance in high school and as an undergraduate. So, last year, before he started his graduate studies at UCSD, he took an online test for aspiring contestants. He must have aced it, because a few months later, he was invited to audition for the show in Washington, D.C.

Then, he went back to working as an economics consultant and later enrolled at UCSD as a grad student. Months passed and he forgot all about the audition—until March of this year. That’s when Schroeder got a call on his cell phone from a phone number in the 310 area code. He was in class at the time, so he didn’t answer. When he called back, he found out he had been selected to be a contestant on Jeopardy!, which would be taped later that month, but wouldn’t air until July.

Game on

Schroeder embraced the opportunity fully. The taping took place during spring break, so he found a small boutique hotel in Beverly Hills for him and his partner, Rusty. Some fellow grad students came up to support him during the first day of taping. Schroeder got to the studio at 7 a.m., but didn’t get to play until much later. He spent hours in a green room getting food, water and a pep talk with other contestants, he recalls.

Alex Trebek and Aaron Schroeder on the Jeopardy! set.
(Photo / Courtesy of Jeopardy! Productions, Inc.)

It turns out that the show’s crew tapes five Jeopardy! games every day. On his first day, Schroeder didn’t get to play until the last game. For several unnerving minutes, he had trouble hitting the buzzer before the other contestants, even though he knew the answers. With encouragement from the show’s staff, he relaxed after a commercial break. “I got into the rhythm,” he said.

But he almost didn’t answer the game’s final question right. Contestants had to name the two countries out of the world’s 10 largest that start with an “a” and end with an “a.” Schroeder misread and thought he only had to name one country. He wrote down “Australia” and relaxed. Then, with seconds to spare, he realized his mistake. His mind started racing. He went continent by continent, until it finally hit him: “Argentina” was the country he was looking for. He scribbled it hastily and won the game.

“It was great,” he said. “No matter what happened next, I won.”

The money

What happened next was that Schroeder went on to win four games the following day, raking up $127,902 in prize money. He also took in $2,000 for finishing second during the day’s fifth and last game. After taxes, Schroeder will bring home about $88,000.

Asked how he plans to spend his winnings, the graduate student said the bulk of the money will pay off $57,000 in student loans. He also splurged on a cruise to Spain, Italy and Greece with his partner, Rusty. And he might go snowboarding in Japan, where he worked as an English-language instructor. But he also wants to save some funds.

“I made more money per hour on this show than I’ll ever make in my entire life,” he told Rusty after the taping.

Questions and answers

Schroeder said that he felt extremely lucky, because many of the categories on the show reflected his interests. As an undergrad who majored in international relations at George Washington University, he had no problem remembering the name of the secretary of state who devised the Marshall Plan after the end of World War II. He also answered questions about foreign countries, Asian cities and an earthquake in Japan.

“Everything came full circle,” he said.

Schroeder also tips his hat to UCSD economics professor Ross Starr. During his Economics 200B class, the professor often quoted a sentence written by 18th-century French philosopher and writer Voltaire that roughly translates to "All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.” The sentence came up as a Jeopardy! daily-double question. Schroeder was asked in what foreign language it had been written originally. He said French. Without Starr, he wouldn’t have known the answer, he said.

After the game

After the taping, Schroeder called his parents, David and Darla, and his brother, Ryan, to tell them how he did. “It was awesome,” Darla Schroeder recalls. “It was his lifelong dream. He really did well. We’re so proud of him.”

Aaron Schroeder actually missed the live broadcasts in July: he was on the cruise when they aired. But Schroeder’s parents got together with friends to watch the show. They missed the first game, which was preempted by the Wimbledon tennis tournament, his mother recalls. But they were able to watch their son’s other games. Schroeder’s grandparents got calls from friends to say their grandson looked articulate, cool and composed, Schroeder’s father, David, recalls. He said he’s not surprised his son won.

“He studies hard and he knows these kinds of things,” David Schroeder said. “I couldn’t have done it, I know that.”