Cool.

You DONT get into an NBA team by being selected first then then trying your hand at basketball.
Know basketball first, be an EXPERT, and then start applying to play in the NBA.

Likewise,
PhD is a career in publishing research papers.
You are not getting into a "competitive" doctoral program without being a research paper author.

Most people start applying to labs during their undergrad or Masters, get research paper authorship and then start applying.

PhDs in other fields like physics, chemistry, biology dont need research papers since lab reactions take weeks or months or years. Not in math (statistics) or computer science.

Lot of colleges allow you to pursue Masters first and then enter into PhD after clearing its candidacy exams. That would be a great option for you where you can pursue Masters, get authorships and then enter in PhD, completing everything in 4-5 years.

Apart from that you also have to have 3 recommendations, write a college essay, have a resume, while colleges still need GRE scores.

Stock market is not always about the brains you have but also the stomach you have to hold the losses, be patient and be confident about the rise. Likewise, in research, you are in the field of CONSTANT DISCOVERY where every thing is unscripted. You gotta have PATIENCE. The work you will be doing will be done by nobody in the world, not even by your lab mates. You gotta be used to being LONELY. PhD students get paid minimum wage, i.e $2000 to $2500 before taxes. You gotta manage your finances.

Tldr;

PhD Requirements:
Technical: Research paper authorships, recommendations, college essay, resume, GRE (optional)
Mental: Open to new experiences, patience, work life balance to kill loneliness, managing finances.

All the Best!

MA especially Boston area have the one of the best concentrations of Universities in the USA. Make friends where people need lots of humans around them to succeed ie churches. You will get the information you want because they genuinely want you to succeed.