Clemson student appeared on Jeopardy! National College Championship. Here’s how she did

A Clemson University junior came in second in the quarterfinal round of the Jeopardy! National College Championship in an episode that aired Thursday night.

Pauline Bisaccio, a pre-med student who went to Fort Mill High School, had a slow start in the first round of the game but came roaring back in Double Jeopardy, getting the final answer correct to earn $8,601.

But Neha Seshadri, an economics major at Harvard who was in the lead going into Final Jeopardy, also got a correct answer and ended up with $14,881. She will compete in the semifinals, which air Feb 17-18.

Bisaccio and the third-place contestant, Chance Persons, a physics and chemistry major at Creighton University, will each receive $10,000. Persons bet it all on Final Jeopardy and did not answer correctly.

Dutch Fork High School graduate Emmey Harris of the University of Minnesota will also compete in the semifinals after winning $21,000 on Wednesday .

Bisaccio is studying biochemistry and psychology with plans to take a gap year after graduation to work as an EMT and study for the MCAT, the medical school exam.

She hopes to become a trauma surgeon.

In an interview with Clemson public affairs posted on Twitter, she said she applied to be on college Jeopardy! after getting an email about it during her sophomore year.

In September, she learned she had been chosen and flew to Los Angeles before Thanksgiving to tape the show.

Bisaccio, president of the Clemson Academic Team, said on the show she was one of two females on the team when she joined. Now there are many more, she said.

Actress Mayim Bialik is the host of the championship. Bialik also hosts nightly “Jeopardy!”, splitting the duty with winningest “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings.

Another South Carolina resident appeared on “Jeopardy!” this year. Columbia lawyer Clark Dawson competed in January.