Generally yes. But not so much better that you should ruin your life to do it. So if taking a date 2 weeks earlier means you'd have to fly out 12 hours after you got home, or miss 3 exams in 3 weeks or something; I'd probably just take the later one to free up the schedule a little bit.
The earlier the better, always. But at the same time, a difference on one or two weeks isn't going to kill you, so if you need to avoid a particular week because you know you're going to be incredibly busy, don't sweat it too much.