BunnyN

I'm also thinking of taking my social life off campus.
Being in a small school where everybody is significantly younger than me makes it difficult to find people near my age.
It has been one month since I started my PhD. Actually, making friends with younger students isn't as hard as I expected. I still remember my undergraduate years, and people haven't really changed. The undergraduates today face the same problems I did ten years ago. Many of them don't seem to notice that I'm very old, or they just don't care.
Just like other old men, I'm attracted to younger females but I don't think they find me attractive, lol.

I didn't know that. But seriously?

The term male is often used as a noun as well to refer to men and boys. I don't feel uncomfortable with the usage at all. Most students in my school are undergraduate kids, I am not sure whether I should call them girls/boys or women/men.
Actually, even the far left NYT uses the term "male" all the time.https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/07/fashion/mens-style/hillary-clinton-white-male-supporters.html?mcubz=0
Anyway, if you find it offensive. I won't use the term female to refer to you.
 
 

The term male is often used as a noun as well to refer to men and boys. I don't feel uncomfortable with the usage at all. Most students in my school are undergraduate kids, I am not sure whether I should call them girls/boys or women/men.
Actually, even the far left NYT uses the term "male" all the time.https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/07/fashion/mens-style/hillary-clinton-white-male-supporters.html?mcubz=0
Anyway, if you find it offensive. I won't use the term female to refer to you.
 
 

I didn't know that. But seriously?

I did exactly this, started my PhD in my mid-30s as a single childless woman in a cohort where most other students are about a decade younger.  What helped me the most was going in knowing that my cohort or even my department wouldn't meet all of my social needs.  I do sometimes socialize with my cohort because they are nice people and can actually be fun, but after spending so many hours with them each week I really don't desire to hang with them all the time outside of that.  I figured being at a large public university I'd be able to connect with grad students in other departments that might be older, so I gave that a whirl.  Unfortunately most of the people I came across were still either much younger or just living a completely different life being married with kids.  
I then chose to take my social life completely off campus and am happy I did.  I signed up for every things to do in this city list I could find, picked up all the free local papers, volunteered, and joined meetup groups to force myself to attend a few things each week whether I felt like it or not.  I did things I knew I like, tried things I'd never heard of, and gave things I previously felt hohum about another shot.  I wouldn't say I have close friends yet and that's ok.  But I do have people that when I see them out I can hang with them and it isn't weird or we can and do text each other to exchange invites.  The best part is most of the people I've met are not in school so I'm not constantly sucked into school stuff.  After having been in the working world I definitely appreciate the variety in my social life and don't want to feel like I can't ever get a break from school.  I also head out of town during school breaks to visit family and friends I haven't seen awhile because there is nothing like being surrounded by people who know you well.
As for dating, this too I've taken completely off campus because I just don't want that kind of drama in what I consider my workplace.  Depending on the type of person (LGBT, other race/ethnicity, specific religion, etc) you wish to date there may be limited choices based on the region of the world your program is in.  Also if you wish to date someone your age or older they may have assumptions about grad students that make dating harder such as you must have bad finances, you'll struggle to get a job when you graduate, your degree will take 10 years, you lack direction or something is wrong with you if you're this old and doing this, you don't have time to date, etc.  I personally just mention the general industry I'm in until it seems like I may want to get to know a guy better, then he can have more specific details.  Otherwise its just like dating when you work full time.  Sometimes its fun and other times it really sucks lol.