Yes, I did have a “lost” freshman year. My current school let students have the choice of whether to go to campus for online classes, and I chose to stay home.
Main difference for my state flagship is that it would be a bigger school, and thus (at least hopefully), more opportunity to find my “people”. Also have some very close friends that go to the flagship.
I currently attend Gonzaga and am considering transferring to the University of Utah. Transferring to the University of Utah would probably be a bit more expensive. Not sure if it matters, but currently have a 3.95 GPA studying applied math and political science, want to eventually go into policy. One benefit of the University of Utah might be more access to internships in state government, but nothing is guaranteed.
I didn’t mention this in my first post, but the lack of COVID restrictions at the U of U compared to Gonzaga is also a significant draw.