[iLoveOncall]

> my thought is for him to change majors if tinkering doesn't come naturally

I wouldn't worry about that. Not everyone that studies CS loves programming, a lot do it because it's a way to have a good career, and that's fine.

> He had a few classes in js and C++ and did very well, but its not something he continues to do on his own.

You have to give a bit more details about how much he writes code and his general situation (which year, classes, etc.).

One thing that is a guarantee, is that people that do their own projects on top of school and get internships will be light-years ahead of someone that does neither, in terms of skills.

From my personal experience, I did a class with people in their last semesters that were literally unable to write any code beyond the basic exercices they had seen in class. They had basically never written and ran an actual project, and it was obvious that they wouldn't have a good time getting a job.