Thanks for your message. Please give my best wishes
to Professor Wu.
It has been the case for several years that most fresh Ph.D. students who received financial aids had had master degrees either in statistics or mathematics.
Such students have shown to have better chance to
do well in the core courses in probability and statistics
and to pass the preliminary exams.
In recent years the number of students from China with
their own money has increased fast. Most of these
students were admitted for master degrees in statistics.
If they perform excellently, they can be admitted into
Ph.D. program and receive financial aid.
Hope this is helpful to you.
Best regards,
Xiao Yimin