Scope should be clear. Road bikes because this is a Road forum. There are other threads on what what a road bike is.
Entry into what? As anyone can ride, I'd say (just making my own rules) entry into the club/group ride/race.
No matter how they apply the lipstick a (new) Walmart special is not an entry level bike.
This should be a bike that if you road you could go 80%-90% as fast as those with bikes 10X as much. And they should not break, or if they do there is some support to get it fixed.
But - I do not agree entry level bikes are "just as good". They are great values, but $10K-$15K does buy you something...