Corinne,
Welcome to the forum. Congrats on your upcoming graduation and start date!
Completing the written exams ahead of time is by far the best thing you can do to set yourself up for success. Unfortunately the written exams are still a requirement by the FAA to get each certificate, however in terms of your training, the knowledge gained is best learned in conjunction with the time flying. The written is just a box to check, simply getting through it so you have one less stressor to get in the way of your studying throughout the program.
I started with only my PAR complete and stayed one exam ahead my entire program. It was better than not doing any writtens but I still had quite a bit of stress worrying about each exam throughout the program. I wish I did more.
Seeing people on the forum talk about written exams, I have never seen one post of someone who regretted it. Only those who wish they took the advice more seriously and got more done ahead of time.
Check out these links:
Let us know if there is anything else we can do to help you prep for your start date.
Hannah