To Americans: has anyone ever gone to Niagara Falls to renew their study permit?

[rainbowsandcandies]

Hi there I'm a American citizen and a fourth year student at UofT and recently was refused a renewal of my study permit because I didn't provide enough information like a transcript or an appropriate acceptance letter from the university. The people at the International Centre said that I can go to the boarder of U.S. and Canada in Niagara Falls to restore my status as a student. However, I'm not sure how to get there so can somebody tell me specific directions to get to the border of Niagara Falls from downtown Toronto? Would I just go up to the immigration officers and tell them directly that I'm illegally in Canada and need my study permit restored? How would this work? For example would I possibly be detained or required to leave the country immediately? Please tell me how this works because I need to restore my status asap in order to take my final exams so that I can pass my courses for the fall semester!
Any sort of feedback is great! Thanks!