At my D’s BS, students were encouraged to start their essays and Common App in the summer. In Oct. they had an essay weekend when seniors were not given any homework and many faculty were available for help. Kids were encouraged to line up their teacher recommenders very early in senior year. Teacher recs can be a problem area at LPS.
D had one EA with a Nov. 1 deadline so she had most everything done by then. She ran short essays by me via email. She had other EA deadlines Dec. 1 and I think she had all 9 of her apps done by then. She was definitely not working on college apps at Christmas break.
I helped with college selection a lot. I felt her particular school did not do much in terms of helping kids create a good college list, but I was already planning to be actively involved.