
He lets Luke push the button, but they are both stopped by Haley. Phil breaks down crying, knowing he would have done the same thing in Luke's situation. Luke counters by saying Phil is not upset at him for cutting class but for the reason he does so: he is making a film (about a superhero who was like a hummingbird and had a heartbeat of 1,000 times a minute) and needs to finish a scene. Luke really wants to push that big red button but Phil stops him, saying that he needs to follow the rules. Phil concludes they are already in the middle of the experiment thinking that scientists are surveying them from the other side of a one-way mirror to see if they will push the button or not. They are left in a waiting room where they notice a red button with a label that says "Do Not Push". While Claire goes with Alex on the tour, Phil, Luke, and Haley (Sarah Hyland) sign up to be part of an experiment being conducted at the university. This makes Alex change her mind and, when Claire apologizes for pushing her into going to Caltech, Alex tells her that she will give the school some thought, making Claire happy.

He tells her that her choice of school should be for a more important reason than just being able to get some distance from her family.

But later, Alex meets Jason Darling, a cute, friendly, smart boy who wants to go to Caltech because it has one of the best-applied physics programs in the country, even though he would rather go to school closer to home. Alex, however, wants to get as far away from her family as she could.

Claire pushes Alex to go to Caltech instead of MIT, since it is less than an hour away from their home, making it easier for the family to see her. The Dunphys are visiting Caltech on a tour of the campus. Mitchell and Cameron are taking a new family portrait with Lily to replace the old one above their mantel, but Lily gives some serious face. The Dunphys head to Caltech for Alex's college tour and while Claire is busy convincing her to choose this school and stay close to home, Phil, Luke, and Haley branch off to participate in a psych experiment.

It's Jay and Gloria's anniversary and they must decide between a sentimental and an expensive gift.
