Gotcha.
I’d be more concerned about the kid than the GPA.
I’ve known kids who got forced (their words) or encouraged (their parents words) to apply to a major they only had modest interest in- nursing, comp sci, engineering, finance/accounting. Those kids don’t necessarily have the drive to power through when the courses get really tough (sophomore and junior year) or the weed-out classes (freshman year).
A kid who is highly motivated to study what he or she wants to study? Sure, the prospective nurse can take a gen ed and discover ethnomusicology and drop nursing at the earliest opportunity… but that’s not what you’re asking.
Kid is well prepared for college and for the prospective major? I wouldn’t worry. Kid has a 2.9 GPA and a 580 math GPA in high school and is getting pressure by the family to apply as a mechanical engineering major? I can predict few things in life. But I boldly predict that this is the kid who will NOT graduate with a degree in MechE.