What are general recommendations for students who want to pursue higher education in USA or abroad?

What are general recommendations for students who want to pursue higher education in USA or abroad?

Recommendations:
All those getting ready to go abroad for higher education are highly recommended to do the following courses at coursea/edex.
1) TAKE UP ALL THOSE COURSES THAT YOU MENTIONED IN YOUR SOP.
2)  When time permits do the 10 course specialization - STATISTICS USING R
3)   Do one course on WRITING A RESEARCH PAPER
4)  If required do one course in Programming
5) Those going for economics and related fields - Econometrics, MACROECONOMICS, and Most important MICROECONOMICS. Do as many courses in this area as possible.
https://www.coursera.org/  [Courses from Ivy League colleges online completely free for anyone!]
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/ [MIT puts course materials online completely free for anyone!]
https://www.edx.org/ [Courses from Ivy League colleges online completely free for anyone!]

Courtesy: Mission Higher Education Group