I’ll check out that list, @Mastadon . Playboy’s bad school=my good school 
I think it is easy to find non-partiers at many serious academic schools. After all, a lot of strong students don’t party. I went to Williams. Plenty of people drink there. But many don’t. I am a complete nondrinker. No one cared whether I drank or not; everyone was friendly.
How long did it take me to link up with non- partiers? My first night-- Admitted Students’ Weekend. Two other nondrinkers and I found each other and hung out all night just talking and having a great time.
There are many scheduled events on a college campus every weekend that do not involve drinking. Or you hang out in small groups doing things you all enjoy-- board games, video games, ping pong, TV, hiking-- whatever!
But I was also friends with others who liked to drink on occasion. I just did not drink myself, and never, even for a moment, felt weird. No one cares whether you drink or not. I never experienced external peer pressure outside of acting skits in health class in middle and high school!!! Have confidence in your own convictions and your own personality; that’s all you need.
I’d say Amherst, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Duke, Michigan, Wisconsin are known for academics more than sports, and yet are some of the biggest party schools there are.
The OP needs to get the list of ‘meets full needs’ schools and then decide which ones meet his requirements. If you pick a school that is isolated (Williams) you might find less partying or more (nothing else to do?). Some religious schools have big parties (Notre Dame) and some have none (BYU).
The other students are most likely set the tone and level of partying. Look for students who are like you.
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They(MIT) actually went 10-0 in 2014. You can watch or listen to their games on Saturdays…usually around 12:00 noon. They play schools like WPI and RPI.
Ah yes, the powerhouses in Football.
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Yes!! They were holding signs that said,
“We want Bama
…in Chess”
First the school has to be affordable for your family - your parents may put some criteria where they find a school is cost/effective.
You want to go to a school where you will be successfully academically (so where there is a solid curriculum in what you want to study). Then you will want to, on another dimension, on campus visit, see where you believe you would really like to go - be it the campus experience and the type of town it is at if that has a big influence on you. In some ways, you want to find a ‘tribe’, but you also want to grow as a person. For example DD’s current room-mate after college was very quiet/introverted in HS, but her college had small classes and each student had to present things - so she outgrew her shy/quiet and actually has become a more well-rounded and socially skilled person. I was surprised to find that, although her college is known for high academics, there are a fair number of students that study hard M - F, but then party hard on the weekend (which she did not participate with, but it was there).
A real football game between Alabama and MIT would not be a pretty sight, but if such a game were to happen, I thought I should give you a heads up what MIT is most famous for when it comes to football…
Even better than that was this classic…watch out for MIT and football lol
I agree with an earlier poster that you should look at schools that have substance-free housing. That was part of my D’s checklist and she is attending Skidmore. This is her second year in substance-free and they have had to add more rooms because the demand was higher than the supply. Students were being turned away if you can believe that 
From what she says, there is plenty of drinking/partying going around but no stigmatism if you don’t join in and no one bats an eye when you tell them where your room is. There is always plenty to do that doesn’t center around alcohol and town is walking distance. The school has lots of arts/theatre/music productions which provide non-drinking activities as well.
I’m quite sure there are several other LAC schools in the NE that provide good substance-free housing, good luck in your search!
42 @mom2collegekids That was actually the Harvard students who put up that sign when ESPN College Football Gameday was at Harvard for the Harvard-Yale game in 2014.
Flagler College in St. Augustine has a no alcohol (or drugs) on campus policy. I knew a couple of people that went there, they partied dry on campus, which they felt kinda boring. They went off campus for alcohol parties, usually at the beach. The school also did not allow opposite sex visitation in its dorms, not sure if that has changed.
Flagler has no religious affiliation, but its strict policies and zero tolerance for offenders can make it feel like it does. So there are non-party and non-religious schools out there.