How can I best prepare myself and my application when applying to PhD programs at MIT/Stanford/Others as an incoming Honors EE at Purdue University? What other programs pair well with EE if I have plans to go to semiconductor or aerospace industry?

Start research early: join labs, publish, secure strong letters, and craft a statement of purpose with clear questions. Take advanced math, signals, ML. Pair EE with CS, robotics, applied math, or bioengineering. Build a portfolio: code, papers, open-sour