I just “finished” the online finance course. I say “finished” because I fast-forwarded through most of it. Here are my impressions:
- If you know nothing about markets, interest, math, or excel, there is value in taking the course.
- The professor did a very good job of presenting the material.
- The course has a lot of info about things that we are obviously going to learn in the core finance course and (I feel) should not have been tested material in the initial “tests” we were given to determine if we should take the finance pre-course.
- I would have learned just as much and been a lot happier with a list of topics, a quick set of formulas, and a link to a free excel tutorial. Basically, for me, I just needed a refresher on some of the concepts I had forgotten since my undergrad math/stats course.
- Thankfully this was an online course, I was able to fast-forward through most of the things I already knew.
I’ll have a better idea of the value of this course once I actually start the program. I’ll post my impressions then.
Right now I hope that the other two (non-online) pre-courses will provide me with more. Just to save you upper-years some time: I know, I know… you told me so. 
P.S. I move to Toronto in a week!