Really? Surely you have figured out a more productive use of your time at 38. Phds are really good if:
- you're young, have found a subject you're fascinated with and are willing to live and breathe every day
or
- you are absolutely sure you want to be a professor and can do top notch research
but otherwise it'll be a long time until you're able to payback the lost opportunity costs of being in grad school (no career advancement, little pay), since other than being a professor, it's unlikely having a PhD will get you any different job than before (if you're in CS).
(I was a PhD student at a top 3 cs program and left for a startup years ago)
". Phds are really good if: - you're young, have found a subject you're fascinated with and are willing to live and breathe every day"
That is exactly true for me, except obviously the "young" part :-). (But hey i feel young!)
I want to do a PhD for the experience of doing/learning to do research with top notch people and (corny as it sounds) advancing the frontiers of human knowledge. I don't really care about becoming a prof.
As for "productive", I've made enough money for me to live on comfortably, if not extravagantly , for the next twenty years. (India is a relatively cheap place to live if you have your own house and a good chunk of money saved). I am single and plan to stay that way so that obviously helps.
Research is just something I want to do (very well) before I die.
but otherwise it'll be a long time until you're able to payback the lost opportunity costs of being in grad school (no career advancement, little pay), since other than being a professor, it's unlikely having a PhD will get you any different job than before (if you're in CS).
(I was a PhD student at a top 3 cs program and left for a startup years ago)