Dear Sheila, 

I've got to admit I'm stumped. I couldn't explain in a short space (or even in a long one) the difference between each and every order, those you mention and those you missed. Fortunately, I don't think it is necessary in order to help you.  

A vocation is not a question of an 'informed decision' in the sense that we have checked into all the options and choose the one we think best.  

The only 'informed decision' we need in a vocation is this: I feel an attraction towards a certain form of life, there is a particular group that interests me or I heard about, in your case the Franciscans, so I go check them out. I visit, learn more about and experience the charism that God gave the Church through St Francis, and while I am there they get to know me.  

After I experience their spirit and they check me out, if both me and they are still interested (in other words if I think and they agree that I may be called to their way of life), that is information enough to focus on them, go deeper in your discernment without spending time looking at other places. 

If you are initially interested in more places than one, then check out each one, but there is no need to go hunting down more and more places to visit. A major part of your 'informed decision' will take place during Novitiate, when you will go deeply into the vocation you have been called to. That way, when you take your vows you will be fully informed of what God expects of you.