In a move that some say could lessen social life at Wellesley College, the school last week decided to crack down on underage drinking by limiting the numbers of people who can attend society house parties, college officials said.

In an effort to avoid legal liability and apply standard college rules to the selective societies, Wellesley will limit to less than 100 people the parties that traditionally have attracted up to 300 guests.

In addition, the societies will no longer be able to charge admission for their bashes, as the administration wants to ensure that they are not selling liquor without the required license, said Vice President of Administration and Finance Barry Monahan.

"We had a sense we were losing control of what we felt we had to control," Monahan said, calling the measure "discretionary."

"We're just making the societies conform to the rest of Wellesley's drinking policy," said Dean of Students Molly S. Campbell.

The society houses--social clubs that fund cultural events on campus--tried to institute separate drinking rooms for those aged 21 and over, but that measure proved difficult to enforce, said senior Aimee Sporer, president of the Tau Zeta Epsilon society.

The new policy, which is expected to hurt the societies financially, will be implemented as it is at dorm parties, with students, assisted by the campus police, checking identification.

Some students decried the new policy, saying it would cut into campus social life at Wellesley, where about 75 percent of the students are under the legal drinking age.

"The rule is not a good idea. The house parties are the best parties. People don't necessarily want to leave campus," said Wellesley senior Katherine Howe.

Howe said she thought the new policy would impel students to drive to Harvard and M.I.T. for parties, increasing risks of students driving drunk.

But Monahan said, "I don't think it will have an impact at all," adding that there are enough ways in which students at various Boston area schools can continue to interact.

"We understand the policy and are perfectly willing to comply. People are pretty sad if they're just coming for the alcohol," Sporer said.