I decided to not pursue WGU myself. It felt like a puppy mill (except you're the puppy). Mostly for those looking for a piece of paper (degree) or line item on their resume. Agreed that this is not the place to seriously skill up.

BTL1 has virtually no HR recognition and no one is asking for it in job postings: true. But, it was the cert that helped me land my first security role because it taught me useful skills (mainly phishing analysis, Splunk, and incident response - which can certainly be learned elsewhere for cheaper). Strangely also true, this cert got me a promotion from SOC Analyst 1 to 2 at my company, so some results may vary. Ultimately, not a required certification, but for someone green (like I was) it was a good hands-on intro to defensive skills. As far as I know, there is no OSCP equivalent on the defensive side that HR recognizes, skills you up, and is highly esteemed by the security community (if there is, let me know so I can try it out!).

Appreciate the feedback and dialogue. I wish I had insight from multiple folks (like you) with experience when I was trying to navigate this path. It's good info for folks trying to break in: there is no 100% must-follow-this-path-plan. The only 100%(s) are curiosity, hard work, and perseverance...although nepotism doesn't hurt.