Tutor Claims Second Place on Jeopardy

Shasha Dobrow ’97, a resident tutor in Currier House, won a trip for two to Antigua on Jeopardy last night.

Dobrow placed second on the show, which was taped in January.

She tried out in February, 2001 after her father, Richard B. Dobrow ’58, who also formerly appeared on Jeopardy, suggested she audition.

“My father watches Jeopardy every day,” said Dobrow. “When he learned that they were having tryouts in Boston he called me and told me to apply.”

The February tryout consisted of a 50-question written test. Contestants who had at least 35 or more answers correct then participated in a mock game. After the game, the show’s staff conducted interviews, took photographs, and informed them their information would be kept on file for a year, Dubrow recalled.

After ten months had passed with no word from the show, she received a call saying that she would be on the show that would be taped in January.

Dobrow prepared by studying American history, geography and books of former Jeopardy questions and playing on-line Jeopardy.

She flew to California to attend the two days of taping—Jeopardy tapes five episodes a day, and randomly selects contestants for each episode from the pool of contestants who are present.

The morning of the first day of taping the contestants went through an orientation to help familiarize them with the game, the atmosphere and the survey. The players were then allowed to play a practice game. Finally, players were randomly drawn to compete in the games.

“The most nerve-wracking part is waiting to be selected for the game. You don’t know when your name is going to be called. I ended up being on the first show on the second day of taping,” Dobrow said.

Her family and friends were in the crowd to provide support for her during the taping.

There was no interaction between the players and host Alex Trebek before the game, she said. However, she did receive a framed photograph of her and Trebek.

She added that she did not feel much pressure during the taping because of her experience performing in concerts.

“The game itself went by very quickly. It was a surreal experience to be on a set that I had seen on television for many years,” Dobrow said

Dobrow said in retrospect she should have played more video games because it would have helped her with her buzzer finger when buzzing in to questions, which she noted seemed random at times.

She is a graduate student studying organizational behavior in a joint program with the Business School and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.