At those targets, it’s about the right prep for a possible admit. Less about whether Johnny finds it tougher to have the first exposure as a freshman. First, you have to get accepted.
There will always be anecdotes. But you don’t want an MIT or other tippy top adcom thinking, Yeah, wants engineering or CS but never took physics. You want them to see you have the academic experience (and chops.) As it is, a lot of wannabes don’t know enough about what engineers do.