Dear Dennis,What about old-fashioned attempt to pass PhD exams that some schools ?
Or take online courses for the last year in the domain that you plan to complete your PhD in, just to prove that you're as good, or better than their students?I believe you're not the only one that tries to complete PhD later than most students. (I think late mr. Jobs had a similar idea to stress out after being kicked out of his own company.)--Best regardsMichal