I think this is fascinating for seniors about to apply but for a freshman getting an F in a course, the AMCAS discussion is pretty theoretical at this point: odds are high OP won’t ever apply to med school. Why take the likely risk of ruining a GPA by taking the course for a grade when the likelihood of a med application is logically low for a fest semester freshman and a C would be a GOOD outcome for a student who got an F in a midterm likely to count for 30-40% of the grade?