I've been studying for almost a week for the MCTS, and it's tough. I'm studying for 70-536: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 - Application Development Foundation, and I am really enjoying it. I like digging into the fundamentals, and getting a much better handle on the built in interfaces, classes, and abilities of the .Net Framework.
Pacing
Here is how I laid out my plan of attack: since I have given myself 6 months to get to MCPD, and MCPD has 3 exams, I've given myself 2 months to prepare for the first MCTS exam. I'm using 8weeks * 7 days, which ends up giving me some Murphy time, if needed. Next, I made use of
Microsoft's guide to the topics covered in the MCTS exam. This guide is great, as it provides percentages for each topic in relation to how they are represented in the exam. I used this to parcel out my available days over the topics I needed to cover.
Armed with those big buckets, I then broke down the larger sections of the exam into their smaller components, using the
Skills Being Measured as guidance. I then estimated the amount of time I could cover each topic in, using the overall allotment of time as a guide.
Resources
Studying for 70-536 is like taking a guided tour of the .Net Framework. A great tool to use in tandem with reading / studying is using
.Net Reflector to open up the CLR assemblies and view them directly. Reflector is great as a supplemental tool, but should not be used when treading in new areas. For example, in covering threads, an area I'm fairly weak in, relying on reflector and the
class library write-ups on MSDN left me more confused than when I had started. The Skills Being Measured section will lead you toward this method of studying, as it mostly lists the classes you need to be familiar with instead of the concepts. For studying sections of functionality that a developer hasn't worked with beforehand, I would recommend first going to the
.Net Developer Guide for an overview and grounding in the concepts presented before diving into the method and properties listings.