This was one of my top parental concerns. Not that I think all teens deliberately try to misbehave but that it is normal and timely to test boundaries. Also, I think kids should get increasing privilege and responsibilities as they get older–otherwise it would be a tough transition to college. From a kid’s perspective, consistent enforcement of rules will increase by the rules behavior. However, sometimes, a teen may make a mistake. As a parent, I prefer zero-tolerance or one-strike schools. But as a teen, you may want to consider how the schools decide (who get to decide that your expelled, faculty that knows you or ones that don’t), if they decide to keep the student after a mistake, what does the school do about it? (For example, if a kid gets caught drunk, will there be any substance abuse counseling or education with something that shows the kid learned something?) Do they consider age? Other behavior of the kid? These comments might trigger some people, but I think that understanding of the rules is not even across the board. That being said, if you don’t like those kind of exceptions, or is a kid who prefers other strict rule-followers, then that might factor into your decision-making.
Another concern, I live across the country. I’m a parent who will drop everything and do everything to advocate for my kids. (Not always to baby them, BTW. I’ve gotten annoyed because I didn’t think the faculty were strict enough.) That won’t be so easy anymore now that both kids will be in East coast. The question for me was “Will a faculty member, advisor, etc be my substitute if the need arises?” If it’s an expulsion or even an infraction that the colleges will see in your file, you want an adult advocate, that’s pretty serious, IMO. I agree with @Gnairwhail, each adult is individual in this respect–that each person will have a different opinion in what should be an infraction. And that 100% fairness doesn’t exist.