Jonah Pulliam, a senior at North Little Rock High School, can add another milestone to his huge list of accomplishments. Today, he learned that he is a National Merit Semifinalist.
This is the first National Merit Semifinalist in the North Little Rock School District since Marshall Donn, who graduated from NLRHS in 2021.
“I looked at the list this morning and I was pretty excited because I know most likely, I will go on and try to become a Finalist and hopefully win some good scholarships,” said Pulliam.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of more than 16,000 Semifinalists in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. This is a coveted accomplishment, as these high school seniors have the chance to compete for scholarships worth nearly $26 million next spring. In addition, Semifinalists will have to satisfy a wide range of requirements in order to advance to the Finalist level.
Arkansas has 135 National Merit Semifinalists this year.
"Now that I’m a Semifinalist, the application process begins. About 90% of Semifinalists become Finalists. Having this honor gives me a lot of options and helps to pay for college,” he said.
Pulliam has an impressive academic résumé. As a junior, he earned a perfect score on the P-SAT and the ACT. He has also earned the Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction designation.
He was recognized by the Superi
ntendent and Board of Education last month as one of the top seniors.
Pulliam is on the Cross Country and Track & Field teams. He is also a member of Mu Alpha Theta and the North Little Rock Mayor’s Youth Council.
Pulliam’s entire academic experience has been in the North Little Rock School District. He started in the NLRSD at Indian Hills Elementary School.
According to the NMSC, over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
Pulliam is in the middle of taking college visits and preparing to write essays for various schools that have garnered his interest. He has not selected a school yet, but he has chosen to study mathematics or economics.
“I will be sending in a lot of applications to see where I get in and see which one offers me the most money. I’m not sure where I will get in due to the low acceptance rates at the school where I will be applying,” Pulliam said.