Best wishes lyrica
I would definitely agree that you should visit the schools and TALK TO THE ACADEMIC ADVISORS about your transferring credits.
I transferred as a junior, but had already taken several junior-level courses my sophomore year, and not all of them transferred. I ended up losing a lot of credits, but I changed my major a semester later anyway.
Also take out of state tuition into consideration. I'm not sure how it works in other states, but from what I hear out of state tuition is scary... which is one of the reasons I stayed in Tx when I transferred.