Mid-2012 MacBook Pro i5 Stuck on Login Screen After Running OCLP

First time patcher here, and as the title says, I’m stuck on the login patch after running OCLP on my mid-2012 i5 MacBook Pro to try and install Sequoia from Catalina. I’ve tried consulting the FAQ on the GitHub page, and haven’t seen a solution to my problem yet, so here’s the troubleshooting I’ve done so far:

• I have not yet installed more ram than the stock 4 GB (that arrives in the mail today), and I wiped the disk to try again, after I got a faulty install the first time around after leaving some files I had on the drive. I know Sequoia runs best on 8 GB or more, I just wanted to install it while I waited for more memory to show up in the mail.
• I redid my OCLP install on my USB Drive to run it again, and that seems to have worked well
• My first install was able to run the root patcher and get to the finish line, but after restarting after finishing the root patcher, I would log in and then the Mac would black screen. It’s yet to do that on this second install, but is just stuck on this page shown in the image.
• Loading times for the install and in general so far have been super slow and limited in terms of memory and CPU usage. I left my Mac on all night connected to power and have yet to see it move from the login patch after logging in.
• I tried restarting after being stuck there all night this morning, and was taken back to the log in screen, but after entering my password, my computer freezes up again.

My initial thought is that the HDD is completely gone, and I need to swap it out with a SSD, which I will do today as well (waiting for that mSATA to USB cable to do so), as well as the RAM upgrade , which will give it that extra memory to complete the boot and the tasks needed in the background. If there’s anything else I need to do or be aware of, please let me know! Thanks a bunch.