What Are High School Honor Societies?
An honor society is an organization that admits students who meet an academic standard. Some look at the whole record and some at one subject. Nearly all of them work through chapters: a school holds a charter from the national organization, a teacher serves as adviser, and the chapter inducts the students who qualify.
The societies differ in how selective they are. A few limit their numbers or use a faculty vote. Most admit every student who meets a stated GPA. That difference decides how much an admissions reader learns from the membership.
Which Societies Cover the Whole Academic Record?
Three societies recognize general academic standing.
| Society | Who it is for | Basis of selection |
|---|---|---|
| National Honor Society | Students in grades 10 to 12 | Scholarship, service, leadership, and character, with a minimum GPA of 85, B, or 3.0. A faculty council selects |
| National Junior Honor Society | Middle level students | The same model for younger students |
| Cum Laude Society | Up to 20% of the senior class at 382 member schools, most of them independent | Academic excellence alone. The school’s chapter elects |
The National Honor Society is found in public and private schools across the country. The Cum Laude Society is concentrated in independent schools and is modeled on Phi Beta Kappa. A school can have both.
Which High School Honor Societies Are for One Subject?
Nine national societies recognize achievement in a single field.
| Society | Subject | Organization | National requirement stated on its website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mu Alpha Theta | Mathematics | Founded in 1957 at the University of Oklahoma | Grades 9 to 12, two years of college preparatory mathematics completed and a third in progress, and a 3.0 math GPA |
| Science National Honor Society | Science | A nonprofit run by volunteer teachers and scientists | Juniors and seniors with a 3.0 overall GPA and a 3.5 GPA in science courses |
| Rho Kappa | Social studies | National Council for the Social Studies | High school juniors and seniors |
| National English Honor Society | English | Sponsored by Sigma Tau Delta, with its central office at Northern Illinois University | Chosen by the chapter adviser on accomplishment in English courses, the overall academic record, and character |
| National Art Honor Society | Visual art | National Art Education Association, since 1978 | At least one semester of art at the school and an art GPA of B or higher |
| Tri-M Music Honor Society | Music | National Association for Music Education | Student musicians in grades 6 to 12 |
| International Thespian Society | Theatre | Educational Theatre Association, since 1929 | Induction through a point system that tracks a student’s theatre work |
| Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica | Spanish and Portuguese | American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese | At least three semesters of Spanish or Portuguese with an honor average, which the society recommends setting at 3.5 or higher, current enrollment in the language, and 10th grade or higher |
| Quill and Scroll | Journalism | An international honor society for student journalists with chapters at almost 15,500 schools | Grades 9 to 12, a B average or the upper third of the class, superior work on a school publication or media outlet, and a recommendation from the media supervisor |
Several of these are large. The National Art Honor Society reports more than 58,000 students in 2,000 chapters, Tri-M reports more than 84,000 students in over 2,100 chapters, and the International Thespian Society reports more than 2.4 million inductees since its founding.
How Does a Student Join?
In almost every case, through the chapter at school. The student meets the requirement, the adviser confirms it, and the chapter holds an induction. Mu Alpha Theta states the rule plainly: it cannot accept applications submitted by students, and the sponsor must submit them. The Science National Honor Society tells students to contact the adviser of a local chapter.
Costs are small. Mu Alpha Theta charges one-time dues of $12 for each new member, the National Art Honor Society charges student dues of $5 a year, rising to $7 from the 2027-28 school year, the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica charges $5 for each new member, and Quill and Scroll charges a one-time initiation fee of $25 or $30. Where a school has no chapter, a student cannot join alone, but a teacher can apply to start one.
Are All Honor Societies Selective?
No. They fall into three groups, and the group matters more than the name.
The first group selects. The National Honor Society uses a faculty council, and the Cum Laude Society caps its numbers. The second group admits by threshold: any student with the required grades in the subject is eligible. The third group is made up of membership organizations that write to students directly and accept anyone who meets a basic standard. The National Society of High School Scholars is the best known of these. It accepts a student who meets any one of eight criteria, such as a 3.0 GPA, so at a strong high school most of the class is eligible. Our guide to NSHSS explains what that membership does and does not tell a college.
Oriel Admissions suggests three questions for any society. Who selects the members? How many students are chosen? What did the student have to do to earn it?
Do Colleges Care About High School Honor Societies?
Colleges give membership modest weight. At a strong high school, a large share of the class belongs to several societies, and an admissions reader learns little from a list of them. The transcript already shows the grades that earned the membership. For Ivy League admission, a student needs nearly all As in the hardest classes the school offers, which is far above any society’s minimum.
What a student does inside a society can count for more. In the reading of Oriel Admissions, readers notice an elected office with real duties, a tutoring or service program the student ran, a result at a competition such as the Mu Alpha Theta national convention, and a national scholarship awarded through the society. Our guides to leadership in extracurricular activities and extracurricular activity tiers explain how readers rank those.
How Many Honor Societies Should a Student Join?
Two or three in which the student will be active are worth more than six memberships. Most chapters require service hours or meeting attendance, and those hours come from the same time a student needs for courses and for the one or two activities that define the application.
A sensible choice is the general society the school offers, plus the subject society that matches the student’s main academic interest. A student aiming at engineering gains more from an active role in the mathematics or science society than from collecting language and arts memberships as well.
How Should a Student List Them on an Application?
Selective honors go in the honors section, and the rest go in the activities list or are left out. Oriel Admissions advises listing a junior year election to the Cum Laude Society as an honor, listing the National Honor Society as an honor when space allows, and describing a subject society in the activities list only when the student held a role or produced a result.
The essay that many National Honor Society chapters ask for is a separate task, and our guide to the National Honor Society essay covers it. Our guide to the Common App honors section shows how to order five honors, and our guide to awards for high school students places honor societies beside competitions, test score honors, and scholarships.
Frequently Asked Questions About High School Honor Societies
The National Honor Society and the Cum Laude Society recognize the whole academic record. Subject societies include Mu Alpha Theta for mathematics and the Science National Honor Society.
The Cum Laude Society limits election to 20% of the senior class and considers academics alone. It is found mainly in independent schools.
In almost every case through the chapter at school. An adviser confirms that the student meets the requirement, and the chapter inducts the student.
School chapter societies charge small dues. Mu Alpha Theta charges $12 once, and the National Art Honor Society charges $5 a year.
No. Organizations that invite students directly and accept anyone who meets a basic standard are different from societies in which a school chapter or committee selects the members.
Membership carries modest weight. Oriel Admissions advises that an office, a program the student ran, or a competition result adds more.
Two or three in which the student is active are worth more than a long list of memberships.
Not alone. A teacher can apply to the national organization to start a chapter at the school.
Sources: National Honor Society: How to Become a Member, Cum Laude Society: Basic Facts, Mu Alpha Theta: How to Join, Science National Honor Society: FAQ and About, National Council for the Social Studies: Rho Kappa, National English Honor Society: Constitution, National Art Education Association: National Art Honor Society, Educational Theatre Association: International Thespian Society, National Association for Music Education: Tri-M Music Honor Society, Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica: Student Membership Types, Quill and Scroll: Student Memberships, National Society of High School Scholars: Membership
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