"A Fancy Article and a Scholarship for a Baby" is an episode of Young Sheldon that first aired April 25, 2024.
Sheldon finds out that Mei-Tung Chen, who tutored him in Germany, published some physics research that the two of them did and credited him as a coauthor. Sheldon tries to explain it to Dr. Sturgis and Dr. Linkletter, but they don't understand it. The paper leads to many universities recruiting him for graduate school.
President Hagemeyer is not happy, since Sheldon brings in a lot of funding for the university. She is especially unhappy at Sturgis and Linkletter's lackluster efforts to retain Sheldon, and since the three of them can't justify staying based on the program quality, they use the proximity to his family and his fear of change. Hagemeyer even goes to Mary & George and offers full scholarships for Georgie, Missy, and CeeCee.
Eventually, Sheldon narrows his options down to Caltech and MIT. After thinking long and hard, he still can't make a decision. At East Texas Tech, he panics and wonders if he should just stay there. Sturgis and Linkletter want to exploit that, but then they come to their senses and encourage Sheldon to go to a different university, although they can't agree on which one.
After some more thinking, Sheldon decides to go to MIT, and he and George fly to Massachusetts to visit, but Sheldon changes his mind after experiencing the harsh winter weather.
Meanwhile, Audrey tells Georgie that his Texas accent is improper, and encourages him to take speech lessons. Mandy agrees, and so she teaches him.
Tropes:
- Bait-and-Switch: Sheldon eventually chooses to go to MIT over Cal Tech, but Adult Sheldon tells the audience "Wait for it." Cut to George and Sheldon arriving at Boston Logan Airport... and being met with a driving snowstorm.George: Cal Tech?
Sheldon: Cal Tech.
Adult Sheldon: Told ya. - Grammar Nazi: Audrey keeps insisting Georgie speak proper English, which confuses him because he thinks he is speaking English as well as anyone else in his family.
- Seven Minute Lull: The Coopers are discussing which university to send Sheldon. There's a pause in the discussion, and then Missy turns the TV on to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, thinking they were done talking.
