The De Anza College parking lots are a nightmare, from the SUVs parked in compact spots to double parking.

College students always seem to be pressed for time. Many times I’ve seen drivers frantically circling the lots looking for an empty space.

The stress of getting to class on time while not being able to find an empty space can be dangerous.

Unfortunately, my car was a victim of the parking lot while I was in class one day during spring quarter.

I came out to find a dent on the brand new car that I had just purchased four days prior.

It’s easy to place most of the blame on careless drivers, but the lack of space in the parking lot makes everything feel tight.

According to Bay Area News Group, De Anza enrolled 21,144 students in spring 2013 and offered only 5,100 parking spots. That comes out to roughly four students for every parking spot.

“It’s too small and compact. It’s not made for big cars,” said De Anza student Olivia Salazar, 19.

The size of the parking lots and spaces can’t be changed for our convenience, but here are a couple of tips and helpful advice we can all use to reduce the stress of parking:

• Public transportation. Every De Anza student pays for a VTA Eco Pass with their school fees. It allows De Anza students to use VTA buses and the light rail for free. The De Anza website has more information on how to get the VTA Eco Pass.

• Carpool. Sharing a ride would also eliminate some stress, as would arriving to school earlier.

Most students, at some point, have had to deal with the dilemma of being pressed for time and frantically circling the lots for a free spot. Most colleges deal with the same problem.

Foothill College, for example, had 13,272 students in spring quarter with only 2,720 parking spaces.

The saying, “rules were meant to be broken,” may work with other situations in life, but following the rules in the De Anza parking lots may be the best thing to do to make everyone’s life easier.