You cannot judge a school by it's rank. I used to go to Miami (Ohio) which is considered a "public ivy" and has the #1 Zoology program in the country. It is consistently ranked as one of the top universities in the United States. Now I go to Southern Illinois University. A little crap college in a little crap town with leaky roofs and is barely in the top 100 lol. But I LOVE it. The people here are so down to earth. You get much more hands on experience and professors take a general interest in just about all their students.

At huge schools that rank really high you need to expect the prof to student ratio to be much larger, have less opportunities for hands on experience bc the competition is much higher etc... Going to a #1 school may sound nice but it depends on your personality. I am the type that likes nature, open spaces and close relationships with my professors. Some people like big cities, nightlife etc... You need to figure out which suits you more.

And p.s. you can always transfer. I know the Guelph is an amazing university bc I was looking at going there. My friend from London (Ontario, not England) went to Toronto and said she never saw the same people in any classes and it was really difficult to form really close relationships. For her that was fine, but for me, that was the opposite of what I wanted.

You need to do what's right for you. I chose the feel of the place over the rank of the program. Which is more important to you?