大学学习之道——驾驭校园系统（下）

Most colleges, especially those with a med school, offer an amazing array of services. They can treat virtually any malady you might have, physical as well as psychological. And it’s all free, that is, prepaid by your tuition or student fees. So next time you’re not feeling up to par, seek out the treatment, before you infect your whole dorm with mono, or worse. And don’t neglect the various health and lifestyle workshops they often run, such as the stress management workshops, or, if appropriate, substance-management clinics, that typically pop up around exam time.

Many schools have as many special service offices as they have academic departments. Depending on your needs, you might make good use of the writing center, tutoring center, math lab, veterans center, international student office, or any of the myriad of others. Keep in mind that this part of the “system” can be of real help, and that, again, you’ve already paid for these services (whether you use them or not).

At large universities, one of the worst problems is where to park your car before you park yourself in lecture. If student parking is two miles from the nearest classroom, consider buying parking from a staff member or faculty member who, for whatever reason isn’t using his or her pass. Getting to class not sweating like a pig can be worth the few hundred dollars the privileged parking costs. (Note that at some schools this is technically illegal, so approach your target cautiously).

With the exception of some small, requirement-light colleges, most schools have heaps of requirements. At our college there’s the 40-hour rule, the 24-hour rule, the special intro courses for majors, not to mention the eight courses in the core, and 12 courses for the major. Make sure you know exactly what you need to be taking each year and, equally important, what you have left to complete your degree. You wouldn’t want the “system” to tell you a month before graduation that you’re two courses short– and that they won’t be offered until 2015!

If you have any transfer credits, keep an eagle eye out to be sure your classes actually have been officially transferred — and that they have transferred into the proper course equivalents. Many four-year colleges have agreements with local or regional community colleges about how their courses transfer (these are called “articulation agreements”), but still the “system” often screws up transfer credits, making it necessary for you to pay a visit to the transfer office or your faculty adviser to resolve matters.

The single most important tip for navigating the “system” is to find the individual whose job it is to run the part of the system you’re having trouble with. No matter how large the university, there’s always one (or a series) of person(s) whose job it is to deal with problems like just the one you’re having. Before you unload at the person at the window or behind the desk, make sure he or she has the authority to actually solve your problem. And if you can’t figure out who that person is at your megaversity, go on over to the dean of student affairs office and ask for help. They will know and, with any luck, be happy to help you.