Princeton review or kaplan for sat prep course?
Neither. Get a tutor, and work from the College Board blue book. It's way cheaper, and more efficient. You'll be doing most of your prep outside of your sessions, but you can get your specific questions answered. Wyzant.com is a great resource for tutors nationwide. The other recommendation I'd make is http://www.word-nerd.com for vocabulary - it's definitely the most efficient way to get your vocab up! Lots of luck to you.
Are Kaplan online SAT prep courses good?
Did not take any class from them, so could not say if it is good or not. There are usually three components for the SAT preparation: 1. Master the SAT words 2. Learn the content that is tested on the SAT 3. Do the SAT practice tests - for this item, the college board "the official SAT study guide" the best for practice tests. The key here is how to complete the above three tasks most efficiently instead of which program or class to take. So when you select your SAT prep program, you need to evaluate it to see if it provides all the resources (SAT words, courses, practice, tips, strategies etc), if it provides tools to enable you to prepare for the SAT most effectively, and if it is cost-effective. When I prepared for my SAT two years ago, I took the online "SAT self training kit" program at http://www.northstarelearning.com/sat-se... and was able to increase my SAT score to 2310. The above program is cost-effective (for only $399) and includes all the materials that I need and an online tool "SAT I: identify weakness" that pinpoints and reports my weakness exactly. You may check out its website for more details. If you prefer to be guided by an experienced tutor, you may check out the SAT 1-on-1 training programs or online live interactive classes from above website. It provides several other SAT 1-on-1 online live tutoring programs, which include its SAT self training kit and a specific tutoring hours with a experienced SAT tutor (scored over 99% on their SAT). You may use the tutoring hours exclusively to focus on any specific topics or areas that you want to improve. One of my friends took one of the SAT 1-on-1 training programs and scored 2350. Hope this helps.
What exactly do you do in Sylvan or Kaplan SAT prep courses?
The prep couses do help to a extent. All they do is give you a book, and get your brian familar with the SAT type questions, and get you to think and help you solve problems the right way to get the answer. They make you take alot of practice tests and get you to answer alot of the harder questions on the SAT, so you will automatically know how to answer the easier ones. I took the Kaplan prep couses, after my first SAT score of a 2230, and after the course i re-took the SAT and got a 2310. Not a big difference, but I guess it was somewhat helpful. Hope this helps, and good luck =]