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Post being replied to
One piece of advice from a recent grad by JackDB
Make sure your nephew would actually be happy at the university even if he chose to deviate from engineering (and therefore, I think, this 3+2 plan). If he is interested in playing college athletics as you say, that probably goes a long way. But being academically happy is also important.
I say this as someone who was also interested in engineering and also has the technical chops (I'm a mathematician now); it is different from any type of science or math you find in high school and it is really difficult to gauge if it will be a good fit. It was a horrible fit for me, and I gave it up after my first semester. Talking to actual engineers in various disciplines would be a concrete and productive way to overcome this.