<p>You could, however, start working on 2-3 college essays this summer. UMD (as well as most other schools) lets you answer your “own” question. For ideas, look at UMD’s (and other schools’) past applications.</p>
<p>You can also probably expect that the “niche” questions will be very similar.</p>
<p>If you have essays that you’ve worked on in the summer, you can put them away, and then bring them out and look at them with fresh eyes in the fall, where you’ll be able to edit.</p>