Around 80% of college students drink alcohol, but there are still many misconceptions about it.

“Alcohol consumption is not an inherently safe thing to do, and as you get higher and higher with more amounts, it gets more and more and more dangerous,” Director of Basic Science Research for LARC Dr. Kevin Murnane said.

You can find out how much alcohol is in your bloodstream with a breathalyzer test. 

This number is called the Blood Alcohol Content or BAC.

However, your BAC at the end of the night may be a good indicator of your sobriety level as the effects of alcohol are different for every person.

“So you can't look at somebody and go, oh, she's wobbling around. She's clearly 0.3, and he's just talking a lot, and he's only at a 0.2," Emergency Room Physician Dr. Jeff Anderson said. "Because it may be absolutely the opposite."

For example, a female who is 150 pounds and drinks five beverages in two hours could have a BAC of 0.1.

However, a female who is 115 pounds only needs to drink four beverages in the same amount of time to reach the same BAC of 0.1. 

“It's a very relative number for a young college kid,” Dr. Anderson said.

There are many other factors that add to how drunk a person can get or what their limit is, including weight, gender, how fast the body burns the alcohol, how often a person drinks and even genetics.

“It's not a specific number for a specific effect," Dr. Anderson explained.

Drugs also play a role in the effects of alcohol, whether they are over the counter or not.

“If you're taking shots or you're taking beers or you're taking wine, if there are other drugs in your body and not just like illicit drugs, even pharmaceutical medications,” Dr. Murnane explained.

Your day-to-day medications can impact you when you are drinking. 

A very common party trend among college students is getting cross-faded, which involves mixing alcohol with marijuana (THC).

THC can lead to people not feeling the full force of the alcohol they're drinking.

“That's going to affect many of your perceptions, including your own self perception of how intoxicated you are,” Dr. Murnane said.

Both alcohol and THC are depressants.

Depressants reduce stimulation causing the brain and body to have a slower connection with each other.

“THC compromises your ability to have any kind of internal feedback," Dr. Murnane said. "You feel pain less. You feel that you probably don't understand how much you're confused."

Doctors caution that you should learn your limits and practice safe drinking when you can.