@Themathaw my son is a Civil, close to finishing so he’s fine. Very strong student in HS (well over 4.0) and found engineering more difficult than he expected. Glad to hear your son did well in AP Physics. How’s his math - that to me is the key to being able to successfully navigate an engineering program. If you’re weak in that area it’s going to be a long hard slog. The challenge with ME is the field is quite broad, so finding the right fit of specialization and job opportunities is key.
JustGraduate my son had a B in “trig/pre-calc honors”, which counts an extra point, so one could interpret that as an “A”. He is nowhere near to being the best around here in this area where there are a lot of phenomenal math students with engineer parents. But, it is HIS own comparitive advantage. That is, he is better at the STEM subjects than lang. arts, etc. So, I am encouraging him in that direction. People on this site suggested engineering and if he struggles, then it would be easier to switch to a science. Right now, I am trying to find good fit universities for him to appy. He will need to agree. His concerns aren’t just the quality of the program, but also what the other students are like. So, I am plannig to go check out some with him while students are present.
To the OP. If your DS can not pick out his own major and school then he should go to junior college. Don’t waste your money on a four-year-university unless HE knows what he wants to do. If you are in Northern California, several JC’s offer engineering tech programs that can lead to good money and job stability. If he’s interested in Civil, Santa Rosa JC has a great program in civil engineering tech that can lead to a four-year-degree-if he works first and excels. Check it out.
SRJC’s AS in CE technology program is described here: https://portal.santarosa.edu/srweb/SR_ProgramOfStudy.aspx?ProgramType=2&Program=002016&Version=4
Note that the course requirements do not include the typical major preparation for transfer to a four year school to complete a BS in CE. For example: http://www.assist.org/web-assist/reportOnly.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=19&dir=1&rinst=left&EM=1&sia=SRC&ia=SRC&ria=SFSU&oia=SFSU&ay=17-18&aay=16-17&dora=CIV.ENGR .