For those unaware of the living conditions in Isla Vista, the image is something similar to that of a garbage dump.

Nearly every house has the same yellow moldy tiled floors, usually accented with an array of broken doors, shattered windows, dirty sinks, overflowing trash cans and the “absolutely necessary” Snappa table placed prominently in the yard.

During my three years in I.V.,  I have lived with 26 roommates. Over time I have developed a survival strategy for dealing with the crazies I encounter. Some of my roommates became my best friends, but others remain the craziest people I’ve met.

Granted, I’m not the best roommate in the world. I had my fair share of drunken nights, hookups and messes around the house. My sleeping schedule is awful, and I take probably the longest showers known to man.

I don’t know what it is, but something about college suddenly makes it acceptable to live with complete strangers from Craigslist.

But hey, I understand, desperate times call for desperate measures. When every halfway decent house in I.V. is filling up, you gotta do what you gotta do.

There are some things you can do to ensure that your next Craigslist roommate isn’t going to wake you up wasted at 2 a.m. destroying things and threatening to beat you up. Because, trust me, it happens…

The first kind of roommate you’ll meet in I.V. is the “I-must-rage-and/or-blast-dubstep-all-day-everyday” breed. This type features extended hours of drinking, regardless of the day and very rarely includes washing dishes.

Warning signs include: bro-tank profile pics, reoccurring blacked-out photos on Instagram and the frequent Facebook invite to every Del Playa party.

Although probably the worst at cleaning up after themselves, at least they know how to have a good time, and usually supply great stories on Sunday mornings.

Second, there’s the “can’t-keep-it-in-my-pants” kind of roommate. For the most part, this roommate is fairly easy to deal with.

Unless you share a room with him or her, that is, in which case be prepared for a different person in their bed every weekend, and the frequent event of being “sexiled” from your room until they’re done with their nightly relations.

The easiest way to deal with the sexually active roommate is to have a friends house close by where you can sleep, whenever possible.

Next we have the ever-popular “I’m-taking-the-semester-off” roommate. They will always be home destroying the house, but will somehow never have a minute to clean up their mess.

This is the type that will randomly come home with a new pet, or frequently disappear on the weekends. And will always talk about finding a job, but will probably never get one.

I could go on for days about all the things to look out for in I.V. Not included in this list are the drug-addicted college kids, super-stoner potheads, never-used-a-broom brats, the downright crazies, or the too-nerdy-to-function people who will inevitably fill the houses of I.V.

In my experience, the key to living with difficult people is to always have an escape route. A friend’s house close by can quickly turn a roommate problem into a much smaller nuisance.

I suggest meeting a potential roommate in person before deciding to move in with them. While it may seem like the Internet is the real world at times, it’s not, and it can be a very deceiving form of meeting people.

First impressions can be powerful. When your household and sanity are at stake, extra caution and testing out the waters always helps.

As for me, I will be moving on to San Diego, where a whole new pool of roommates await me.

Here’s to hoping that my next 26 roommates are only half as crazy as the first.