AS AN UNDERGRADUATE THESE ARE THE THINGS YOU SHOULD DO BEFORE GRADUATION

1. Spoken English It is so sad that majority of Nigerian students in tertiary institutions do not bother about polishing their spoken and written English before graduation. Some graduates speak English worse than a toddler, making one to wonder what they spent 16 years doing in school. You hear utter statements like "he come and slap me and I come and beat him". If you say such to an interviewer, even with First Class honours clearly written on your CV, he will probably think you bribed your way through school. The use of words like 'yeah', 'goddamn', 'omo', 'sh*t', 'f**k' e.t.c should be stopped because they do not portray you as a decent person.
2. Mode of dressing. Looking fly on campus was one of the things I enjoy as an undergraduate. It was fun because you had so much of the opposite sex around to admire you. The moment I graduate, my orientation will change. Not that a graduate should stop wearing denims and sneakers, but sagging and putting on studs with crazy hairstyles should come to a stop if such a person wants to fit into the corporate world. In the corporate world, you get to mingle with matured or married men with enough decency. Sagging in their midst will make you look kiddo. Just because your favourite musician Davido sags his trousers does not mean you should do the same. He gets paid to do that while you could get fired for doing the same.
3. Spendthrift attitude, The first time I heard someone say his salary is N70,000, I hissed and mocked him in my mind because that was the same amount we students spent on phones just to oppress each other. Now I have seen people earning less than N45,000 even with years of experience. What kind of person do you think you will turn out to be when all you want is the latest expensive gadgets? In the real world, no one cares about the kind of phone you use. Even on campuses in Nigeria these days, girls have stopped falling for a guy because of the phone he uses, they now trip for flashy cars. So, before you spend that huge amount on a phone, ask yourself this question: "is it going to improve my standard of living?". I did not know I could turn my smart phone to a mini laptop with WPS, Excel e.t.c until I got into university. My phone was all about BBM, WhatsApp and Facebook. I now saw the full potential of the phone. You need to cut down on your spending. Also, get the idea of clubbing off your mind or it might ruin your pocket. The money saved from disciplining yourself can be used to start something great. Use your head!

4. Laziness . You remember how you used to complain about the large notebooks you have to read for exams? If you lack a good reading culture, it is certain you will be bereft of ideas to contribute to a company's growth. You are always seen reading gossip blogs where you are updated with the lifestyle of celebrities but lack the idea of what the top 20 questions interviewers ask. Scaling through campus days as a lazy person does not mean such is likely to continue in the real world. Carrying on with laziness is what leads to prostitution, where a lady feels she can use her body to fetch her daily bread instead of her brain, or where a guy still expects his uncle to be the one to help him achieve his targets even after getting him a job through nepotism. You get to wonder why they spent 16 years developing their brain in school.

I don’t need to tell you what you already hear from many quarters: get a well-rounded education and enjoy yourself. That is good advice. But here are the ten extra things I tell all undergraduate advisees interested in international public service:

1. Acquire skills that are hard to get outside school. Your first temptation will be to fill your schedule with courses on fascinating subjects. Do this, but don’t forget to also use university to tech up. For anyone interested in public policy or development, I suggest at two semesters of statistics and economics. Then pick a field of study in development (economics, politics, etc) and pick the hardest courses in each. Other technical skills may come in handy, depending on your interests: international law, political theory, tropical medicine, qualitative methods, finance & accounting, and so forth.
2. Learn how to write well. Take writing seriously. Consider a course in creative, non-fiction, journalism, or business writing. Read books on writing. You won’t regret it.
3. Focus on the teacher, not the topic. You will learn more from great teachers than great syllabi.
4. When in doubt, choose the course that keeps the most doors open. If you aren’t sure of your interests, stick to mainstream majors, ones with plenty of job and grad school options at the end, and get your core stats and math training (multivariate calculus, linear algebra, and multivariate regression).
5. Do the minimum language and management classes. Languages are hugely valuable, but better learned in immersion, during your summers and holidays. Maybe take an intro course, but only that. Business and management skills are critical, but classrooms are poor places to get skills other than finance and accounting.
6. Try careers on for size. Don’t wait until you finish law or medical school to discover you hate working in your specialty. Try out different careers in the summer–researcher, journalist, medical assistant, NGO worker, congressional aide, and so on.
7. Go to strange places. Use a summer or a school year to go places, ideally a place completely different from home, where you’ll come to know local people (and not just the expat community). Here’s when it makes sense to learn languages.
8. Take some small classes with professors who can write recommendations. If you’re uninterested in grad school, skip to #9. But if a MA or PhD is an option, you will need at least three high quality recommendations.
9. If you don’t have to write a thesis, think twice. An independent research project can be the perfect capstone to your college years. Sadly, I often see theses that weren’t worth the students’  investment of time and energy. Some people’s time would be better spent acquiring technical skills (see point 1). I used to advise students against a senior thesis if they had the choice. After getting lots of disagreement on my blog, I’ve revised that view; a senior thesis can be a great investment if you are dedicated to a question of interest, want to learn how to research, want to strengthen a relationship with a professor, want practice for graduate school, or want to try out research and writing as a career option. (If you do plan to write a senior essay, here are my advising requirements.)
10.  Blow your mind. At year’s end you should look back at your thoughts and opinions twelve months before and find them quaint. If not, you probably didn’t read or explore or work hard enough. (Come to think of it, this is not a bad rule for life.)

The logic underlying all the above advice: use your undergraduate degree to learn things that are hard to learn anywhere else. Statistics are not more important than languages. But the opportunity cost of skipping a statistics course is high because it’s hard to find alternatives to university classes. Remember you only get 32 courses at university. The opportunity cost of a language program is low because there are a dozen other times and places you can get that skill.