I thought they are pretty well put together. TCM seems to actually want to help people learn, grow, and develop into someone who can do a security role, and it shows in the training. More on reddit.com

I believe you are going about it the wrong way. Also HTB is not for beginners. Since you're 16 I assume you don't have networking skills or computer skills. Subscribe to professor messers YouTube channel and start with his A+ course you don't need the certificate, if you want to sit for the exam that's up to you. Then go for professor messers networking course. Learn the fundamentals. Again you don't need the certificate. Next you need to learn Linux. Go to Linux journey and finish everything. Then go to over the wire and start bandit to practice your Linux skills. I'd recommend you hacking boxes, go to vulnhub and download compromised boxes. You won't know what to do, start with write ups for the first few. I'd recommend doing both Linux and windows boxes. When doing it get into the habit of writing down what you're doing. You need to get use to writing reports because this is what you will do on the job. Once you can do 7 linux and 7 windows boxes without the need of guidance. You are ready. After that you will need to go for a junior level certificate in pentesting. I'd recommend TCM Academy's certificate it's $249 and you get the learn materials and two exam attempts. After this look at web pentesting you can start with try hack me and Udemy has a course web pentesting and bounty hunting. You can also go back to TCM and do their course on web pentesting and sit for their exam. Just a word of advice, ethical hacking is not what you see on TV. It's hard work and can be very stressful. You need to do it because it's what gets you out of bed in the morning. Also don't do anything stupid you will go to jail. Don't run scripts unless it's in a virtual environment don't scan website or networks without written consent. More on reddit.com

Powershell has all of .NET backing it so I bet you could pick up C# quickly IMO. C# is a compiled language and great for windows apps. .NET Core can run on Linux now too That said, I think Python is more widely used for scripting and cyber sec. Also, many of the concepts you’ve learned scripting with powershell can transfer. More on reddit.com

SAL1 Is honestly not worth it IMO. A beginner's course/cert like this should actually prepare you for a job. It's far too simple and in that mission. I, personally really like TCM Security's PSAA course. Highly practical, fully hands-on with a fully hands-on exam as well. So you can put it on your resume as a project almost. Normally, it's $250 making it cheaper than SAL1, but right now TCM also has a sale making it $200. For that cost I don't think there's a better cert. TCM Security PSAA https://certifications.tcm-sec.com/psaa/ They also have a sale on their platform, $150 for a year of access. Great for if you want broad training, they are also planning on launching a SOC 201 course and exam very soon, It might be worth checking out. More on reddit.com