Rutgers PhD Student Wins $95K On Jeopardy!, Will Compete In Tournament Of Champions

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — A Rutgers PhD student just ended her four-day winning streak on the game show "Jeopardy!"

Allegra Kuney, 32, was attempting to secure her fifth consecutive win in Tuesday night's episode, but she was defeated by researcher Harrison Whitaker. She won in the "Jeopardy!" shows that aired last Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Monday (Nov. 5, 6, 7 and 10.)

But don't feel too badly for Kuney: She still won a total of more than $95,000 in her four appearances on the extremely popular game show, and she qualified to compete in the upcoming Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, which will air Jan. 27.

"I did not expect to do as well as I did," Kuney said Wednesday, after her loss to Whitaker, who she described as "extremely tough competition." "I went out there thinking I just want to win one show, at least one episode."

"I did not expect to win four in a row."

It has always been a goal of Kuney's to compete on "Jeopardy!" She lives in New Brunswick and teaches undergrad classes at Rutgers in media and communication, while getting her PhD in media studies.

"I used to always watch Jeopardy growing up and I would always shout at the TV when they gave the wrong answer. I decided if I care this much, I should just try out to be on the show," she said. "Another professor at Rutgers said she saw me Monday night on TV. She said, I almost fell off my chair; I turned on the show and there you were."

But it's not easy to compete on Jeopardy: Kuney first applied to be on the show four years ago, and applicants have to take a written test. For several attempts, her score was not high enough. It was finally on her fourth round that her scores were high enough to qualify. From there, she had to go through a series of Zoom interviews, where they asked her trivia questions, and she then headed to Los Angeles to tape the episodes. The shows were taped in early October and aired last week and this week.

"It was a lot," she shared. "We taped three shows in one day, and then two the next."

And now Kuney has to mentally prepare for the Tournament of Champions, which films next week and airs in January.

"Some of the contestants I'll be competing against won their episodes a year ago, so they've had a year to prepare for the tournament. I have one week."

According to her Rutgers teaching assistant profile, Kuney is working on getting her doctorate in media studies, and has done research on digital religion, spirituality and online misinformation/disinformation. She grew up in Rockland County, NY.

What's her trick for staying mentally sharp?

"I really don't have one," she laughed. "I know a lot of facts about geography and movies, but I don't have much head space left for such stuff as 'Where did I leave my keys?'"

Here is one of the questions she successfully answered Monday night:

“Putting in Your 2 Cents, Internationally;" the clue read, “Cruising Karachi? 2 cents turns into around 5 or 6 of these.”

“What are rupees?” she answered correctly.