For straight-ins, I leave mine alone until short final.
For overhead pitch-outs (formation work, etc.), I don't go full RPM until on downwind when I'm a few seconds from the abeam point and want to slow down. That's when I go full RPM and throttle back to slow for flaps 20.
Like political opinions, everyone has a technique, and this technique is mine. Hope it helps.
Let the engine drive the prop and not the prop drive the engine.High rpm and low MP can cause piston slap Lycoming says best to keep above 15"mp at high RPM.
Bob
That is the way Mike Seager teaches in transition training. Abeam of the touch down point in a standard pattern, so like others pretty late, just before descent. Then he had me hold 1800 rpm on descent until crossing the threshold.