When do universities usually start writing papers?
When you graduate from senior year, don't take the college graduation thesis as a very important thing. University level can't write any high-quality papers. It is problematic to ask college students to write papers. So I usually write it after graduation, just to cope, and it can be done in half a month. You will be assigned a tutor, who will teach you how to write, suggest which topics you choose, how to check the information, format and so on. If you are really interested in your research, you can write it now.