Dear Liviu Thanks again! I'll be finishing up an MS at Johns Hopkins's PTE program in August 2005 (or December 2005 if I hold out for one more class that might finally get taught). I've also been a TA for Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (odd, I know, but I've already had those courses and I already have a MA in Economics which are the basic requirements for a TA.) My concentration has been in Machine Learning with an emphasis in Evolutionary Computation. I'm thinking I would really like to complete a Ph.D. in Computer Science so that I can continue research in Machine Learning. I'm a bit worried about having to repeat courses and about the oral exam because I have a learning disability that doesn't mesh well with either boredom or on-the-spot thinking (which is why I love email and IM). Another concern (and this comes from being a labor economist) is my age. At 41, even if I started next year, at the best, I might be done when I was 45--and that's even if you can do a part-time degree in 3 years (full-time is financially out of the question for several reasons). CS seems to be a little age-ist...at least software engineering is. I wonder if there would be a payoff--I'm not sure what the cost for classes is or what the final tally would be but I'd also being footing the bill myself. Are there older students in the program? (I find very few students my age are in the Masters program at JHU, at least the Computer Science program) Any comments, suggestions, incites you have would be appreciated. Maybe we can have lunch one day. In any case, GECCO is in DC next year so maybe we could get ECJ users together. Best, Steve. On Dec 1, 2004, at 12:39 PM, Liviu Panait wrote: > Steve, > >> Finally, does George Mason have a part-time Ph.D. program with courses >> at night? A link or other information?If so, do you have any comments >> about it? > > Many PhD students at George Mason University are part time. Classes > for PhD and master students are primarily in the evening, 4:30-7:10 or > 7:20 to 10:00. Here are some links: > > The Department of Computer Science - http://cs.gmu.edu/ > The School of Information Technology and Engineering - > http://ite.gmu.edu/ > Schedule of Classes for Spring 2005 (Department of Computer Science and > related fields) - > http://cs.gmu.edu/generalinfo/coursessyllabi.html > > Regards, > > Liviu. >