I’ve already been accepted to Davidson and I’m thinking about committing to it, but before I do I want to know what the social life is like. Is the college strict when it comes to drinking/drugs and roughly how many students participate in the drinking or drug culture at the school (if you might know, I couldn’t find anything)?
Hi! Congratulations on your acceptance! I’m a current freshman here, so hopefully I can offer some insight. Note, I live in substance free housing so I may not be the most qualified person to answer this question.
As far as I can tell, alcohol is way more prevalent than other drugs. I’d say a majority of the people here (at least the freshman) do drink, and the college really doesn’t care much at all unless someone is in danger. The campus police aren’t really there to crack down on underage drinking, but to basically make sure that nobody dies. If you have a drink in a solo cup, the assumption that the campus police and hall counselors (like an RA) will have is that your cup is filled with water. So unless you directly walk up to someone of authority and tell/show them it’s alcohol and you’re underage, they won’t act on it. In the event that you do get caught, I don’t know how common write-ups are. I think most of the time they just ask you to pour out your drink, but again, I’m not too knowledgeable about this area. I just know the stuff they told us at orientation at the beginning of the year.
I don’t think drugs are nearly as common as alcohol is. However, I do know of a person that is into drugs other than alcohol. In fact, he’s from the same hometown as me and I once saw him briefly over summer break and it was obvious he was high. But again, I don’t know how often he uses drugs while he’s on campus. The college says they’re zero-tolerance on drugs, but I don’t know much besides that.
But overall, if you’re thinking of drinking then the college isn’t going to be actively looking to ruin your fun. Other drugs I’m not too sure of. And if you’re not interested in drugs/alcohol at all then you’ll have an equally great time with your sub-free hallmates who are really fun, diverse, and talented people. 
Thank you so much for your reply! All of that really helps me I did hear about the solo cup assumption a while back when I visited campus which I think is pretty nice
If anyone could also speak to the prevalence of weed on campus that would be great