Craig Pilla

University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business

“I am a curious young professional who loves learning about new ideas and cultures.”

Hometown: Chester, New Jersey

Fun Fact About Yourself: I have traveled to five of the seven continents.

Undergraduate School and Major: Major in Economics from Northwestern University

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Associate – Prime Brokerage Risk at Societe Generale

What has been your first impression of the Marshall MBA students and alumni you’ve met so far. Tell us your best Marshall story so far. I could not have asked for a better start to the Marshall MBA program as the students and faculty have all been incredibly supportive and welcoming. It’s truly remarkable how diverse the students’ backgrounds are in terms of both professional and life experience. It has also proved to be one of the more collaborative environments I have found myself in thus far.

What makes Los Angeles such a great place to earn an MBA? Los Angeles has so much to offer for MBA students in terms of employment prospects and living standards. The fact that so many people enjoy living in the city means that there is a plethora of brilliant and talented people in all industries.

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of USC Marshall’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I am looking to pursue a career in commercial real estate development, so the strength of Marshall’s real estate program and alumni was a significant draw for me.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at USC Marshall? I am incredibly excited to join the Graduate Real Estate Association to learn more about the industry, tour development projects, and network with industry professionals.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I was tasked with co-developing and coordinating a procedure to issue intraday margin calls to clients with particularly large losses in the markets. We successfully implemented the procedure, which was the first-of-its-kind at the company, and ultimately received intraday margin calls in the hundreds of millions of dollars on days of high market volatility. This helped to reduce the firm’s overnight exposure to the clearinghouses.

What is one thing you have recently read, watched, or listened to that you would highly recommend to prospective MBAs? No specific recommendations.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into USC Marshall’s MBA program? My advice would be to think introspectively about why you want an MBA and why you want an MBA specifically from Marshall. It is important to be authentic in your reasons and this authenticity will show in your essays.

DON’T MISS: Meet USC Marshall’s MBA Class Of 2024