Finals: Better In College?

All throughout high school I had finals after Winter Break.  Coming back to school after Thanksgiving and having to buckle down to study now seems strange to me.  I was used to having more time both to learn and to prepare for these tedious tests.  However, now, although I am still stressed, I am starting to see the upside to having finals before Winter Break.  For one thing, with such a long Winter Break ahead of us, that is a large opportunity to forget everything (or a fair amount) that we have worked so hard to learn over the course of the semester.  With finals before, now the concepts and facts are still fresh on our minds.  Also, Winter Break is now actually a full-fledged break.  There is no guilt over "forgetting" to study over break, mainly because there is no studying.  As a hard working student who spent a semester studying and learning, it is nice to have a relaxing break with literally no schoolwork.  However, now I do feel the pressure to study over Thanksgiving.  This past Thanksgiving, I did bring some of my school books home, in hopes that I would have time to catch up on some reading and maybe even work ahead.  At times when "Family Bonding" was required, this was quite a nice excuse.  But since Thanksgiving is so short, I didn't accomplish nearly all that I had hoped.  

Did anyone else have finals after Winter Break in high school?  And if so, which system do you like more?