I recently passed the ACTC exam with just the book and a spare server to tinker with, it was not that hard to get through. I didn’t have a lot of options as far as taking the classes as no local AATC offers the IT classes, only the Pro Apps. I am currently working with the ACSA-specific books the same way and hopefully I’ll be able to take the three remaining ones (Directory Services, Deployment, Advanced Sys Admin) in the coming months.
HTH,
Pepijn.