Here is the issue:
The cost of the course when compared with the likelihood of being able to implement the skills right away in the work environment makes it mutually exclusive for most people. Many of us do not have the access to Enterprise-level Software Architects to become mentors so we explore routes such as this. Upon seeing how expensive this route is and that there is simply NO guarantee that it will contribute you obtaining the certification, it becomes a pie-in-the-sky activity and as such, we place it on the back-burner. In the mean time, an opportunity presents itself for us to become an application or technical solution architect. It is here where we should be revisiting the idea, but realistically, it can also be one of the busiest times in your professional career, so again it becomes no realistic to pursue. So the interest wains, and EVENTUALLY experience fills in the gap and it becomes unnecessary.
NOW, if you are fortunate to work for a firm like IBM that has a complete career track for Architects starting at a foundational level, this can still make sense as it will present an opportunity to accelerate your knowledge in more design centric areas, fusing that with Zachman and TOGAF Enterprise Architecture frameworks, and the general "CITA-P type" business process, relationship management, systems engineering and presentation skills that will make you a complete Enterprise level architect in waiting.
The method that you are taking is still a great path for a career to transition from Developer, through Application/Software Architect up to Enterprise Architect level. What you have to determine is how much time and money you want to put into this. I am a firm believer in the material the course touts as being covered, but not having taking the course myself, I cannot speak to how much it should or shouldn't help. Be aware, that most Architects with less than 10 years of experience are Technical Solution Archtiects [think SharePoint Architects] where they model the proposed configuration,
test it, guide the deployment team, and design and oversee some custom development of a few components or web apps. You typically will not get an opportunity to develop an application from the ground up and this is a good thing.
You'll want to focus your skills on working to develop some Cloud Applications and what not [I am going to fuse my OCMJEA training with my IBM Cloud Infrastructure Architect and VCP certs to do exactly the same -- whenever I complete them ;-) ]. From there, be sure to learn as much about SOA & BPM and Java implementations there of. Finally, pick two industries to focus on and incorporate into your practice. Learn as much as you can about them and where their productivity issues lie. This will give you some leverage. From there, it will be easier to get near the top of the food chain quickly -- just be careful to be diligent about your craft or you will fall off just as quicly.