Hello, congrats on wrapping up your last year of PT school, I remember that time fondly!
There are a lot of different strategies out there for NPTE prep. I have put together a new NPTE prep website,
physicaltherapyed.com, where we talk about what we think works (not that it's perfect for everyone).
We recommend not wading into your NPTE review plan. Meaning we suggest putting together a study plan and sticking to it, and not just starting your program super early and studying when you have the time after clinical rotations/class/etc. (not that that's what you were suggesting)
So... to answer your question, I would suggest starting around the time you graduate, so April given the options you suggested. I think an 8 week study plan is ideal for the typical person, and we even have a few examples on our website you can check out.
That said, the students who take our remedial courses usually do better with a longer study program (usually 12 weeks), so it really depends on how you function best.
Would you consider yourself a strong test taker? What have your study habits been in PT school? We have about 80 free sample NPTE questions on our site if you want to give them a whirl now and not waste a practice test. They're still under development and review so you may find a spelling error or two, but the questions are solid.
Someone mentioned taking the PEAT a few months out, I don't disagree, I believe that the PEAT is the most accurate predictor of NPTE success. That said, you may want to take your 2 PEATs in the final weeks of your study program. I would recommend taking a scorebuilders test the first day of your study plan to launch your review plan and highlight your strengths and weaknesses, I'd hate to burn a PEAT right off the bat, but your call! We have a practice NPTE as well but we don't have the sample size yet for me to say it correlates strongly with NPTE scores.
Why don't you take some time to develop an 8 or ten week study plan, then if you're feeling anxious take a scorebuilders practice exam in March and see how you do? Worst case you can just beef up your study timeline. Again though, I think 8 weeks is perfect.