COMMACK, N.Y.—There have been so many honor societies created at Commack High School on Long Island in recent years that some students ended up in six or seven of them, racking up memberships like so many merit badges or thanks-for-playing trophies.

But the school reversed course this school year, cutting out its 28-student technology honor society and combining those for sign language, Latin, German and French. That left 11 societies, and a community wondering how much honor is too much.

With so many societies, some students are unable to attend all of the meetings and shirk their duties with the groups, showing up only to collect the “;honor cord”;—a decorative tassel—to wear at graduation.

Commack is one of many places where educators and parents are re-examining the role of honor societies, which started out as an academic distinction reserved for the top 5 or 10 percent of a class but have become a routine item on college resumes.

While the prestigious National Honor Society still requires members to maintain at least a 3.0 grade-point average (many chapters like Commack set the bar higher), fledgling societies in individual subjects often accept lower grades in other areas. In Commack, where a sizable number of graduates are accepted into Ivy League schools every year, nearly a third of the 1,200 juniors and seniors belong to honor societies; the average among those students is three apiece.

“;This cheapens the currency,”; “;said Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a nonprofit educational policy group in Washington. “;Once everyone's wearing rhinestones, you might not notice someone wearing diamonds.”;

Many college admissions offices, which inadvertently inspired the growth of such societies, find them confusing. “;It's very difficult to know with so many different honor societies and so many different criteria, what exactly we have in front of us,”; said William R. Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions at Harvard.

Nationally, there are nearly two dozen recognized high school honor societies, including recent additions like the National English Honor Society, which has grown to nearly 21,000 members in 337 schools since 2005. The gold standard, the National Honor Society, has more than 700,000 members in 15,869 high schools.

David Cordts, associate director of honor societies for the National Association of Secondary School Principals, said the groups motivate students to explore their interests and build their confidence and self-esteem. “;We've been giving gold stars and putting names on honor rolls going back to Socrates,”; he noted.

Timberlane Regional High School in New Hampshire added its 10th honor society—the International Thespian Society, with two members—last year after the school expanded its drama classes. In New Jersey, Cherry Hill High School West started its eighth society, Platinum Torch, in 2007 to recognize students dedicated to community service.

But as honor societies have grown, some schools have screened out less serious students. At Florida's South Miami Senior High School, the math society delays induction of new members until they fulfill a requirement for community service, and withholds honor cords from seniors who skip meetings, said Ileana Rodriguez, the activities director.

Even so, at schools like South Portland High School in Maine, with six honor societies, the student body sports so many cords, sashes and pins at graduation that a few teachers have asked whether the standards for such honors are high enough, said the principal, Jeanne Crocker.

On Long Island, the Port Washington district has added English, art and music honor societies since 2006 for a total of seven, but Geoffrey N. Gordon, the superintendent, opposes any more because he is already seeing a handful of students who do not bother to show up for induction ceremonies.

Here at Commack High School, the number of societies doubled in the past decade, as students who did not qualify for the National Honor Society lobbied for a chance to be recognized. The groups generally meet outside school hours and require students to tutor or perform other community service. The school spends an average of $1,200 a year for each society's faculty adviser.

Budget cuts were part of what motivated the school to cut the technology society, its smallest, and combine the others into a “;world language”; society. Officials also cut funding for the English, history, math, science and business societies, but students, teachers, parents and a local education foundation raised money over the summer to restore them.

Now, administrators are considering turning some of the remaining societies into clubs open to all, and limiting the number a student can join.

Steven Mauser, 17, applied to every group he qualified for in what he called an “;honor society frenzy.”; He belongs to six (it was seven before technology got axed), but said he spends the most time on history, where he is treasurer, and the least on Spanish. “;I'm one of the offenders,”; he said. “;Sometimes I fall a little short and maybe next month I bump that up a little to make up for the time that I didn't spend there, but by the end, I meet all the requirements.”;

The Spanish society has 258 members, so “;taking attendance is a nightmare at meetings,”; said Grace Silva, the adviser, who wants to raise the criteria for admission from the current 90 average in Spanish and 85 overall.

“;The problem comes when you're trying to run an honor society where kids don't want to be and they're skipping meetings and they're not doing anything,”; said Amanda Seres, president of the 168-member English society.

Amanda said she joined only two other societies (national and English) so as not to overextend, but acknowledged that “;it will be kind of hard in May when I'll have three honor cords and everyone else will have nine.”;

Some parents agree that honor societies have become too much of a good thing. “;There should be a limit,”; said Dmitriy Vaysman. “;I mean how can you be in seven honor societies? There are five days in a week.”; (Vaysman's son, Max, is in four societies.)

Drew Meyers, 17, spent the summer organizing and attending fund-raisers to save the history and math honor societies, of which he is president, and the science society, of which he is a member, borrowing $300 from his parents when math came up short. He wrote about the experience for his Yale application.

“;One of the essays was talk about something you committed to over the summer, and I was just like, 'Oh boy,' “; he recalled. “;It's a nice bonus, but to put this kind of time into this many honor societies, you have to really love the subjects.”;