[op03]

Ask him to talk to as many profs in the dept as possible. Something will click. Thats what I did. Specifically that he is into programming, what excites him etc and that he is looking to work with them in whatever capacity available. Profs with research labs always need extra labor.

I wasn't a fan of exams and deadlines either and consistently goofed off, but I got into a research lab doing odd jobs for profs/grad/phd students which slowly turned into full time lab work. The profs I worked for gave me enough independent credits for the work I did there, to coast through.

He is right in that mentors and the right/encouraging environment is crucial for learning. I learnt more in those labs than in any classroom. And he should actively go look for those mentors/environments and prove to them his interests are genuine. Good things will happen but he has to do that work.