I think most jobs gear days want experience >>>> education.
Obviously this doesn't apply to grad schemes (though experience will do you no harm) but generally me experience of grads, and knowing what I was like as a fresh grad too, is they are blinking useless for 6-12 month. Most still think like students (one in my office at the mo dresses like a student, acts like a student and I will blinking kill him one day) and it dies not work well in a busy work place.
Getting some form of experience as a student is vital, just to show you know what work actually means otherwise you will struggle greatly.
What do you mean when you say 'think like students'? Would you have any examples?
When I first started my internship after uni, it took me about 3-4 months before I could do stuff on my own without running to someone with every single question. But that was because of a lack of experience/knowledge on my part. More I built it up, less I had to ask.
Reading the above, it sounds to me like it may be coming across a bit harsh/accusatory. Not entirely sure how to soften it, so just going to explain that it is just a genuine query as I am curious as to how people perceive the student way of thinking, having been one myself until about 1.5 years ago.