Mathematica's numerical algorithms are much faster today and on a par with Matlab's. I teach a class in Numerical Methods using Matlab to engineering students and many of these same students are in my physics classes where I use Mathematica. The students are constantly begging to use...
Greetings:
I am a college physics professor in Washington state. For my sins I also teach some math and engineering classes.
I'm hoping to make a non-negative contribution to the forum. (See how I gave myself some slack there to make zero contribution if I'm too busy :wink:)
tryengineering.org is a great place to start your research about aerospace engineering colleges. In addition to MIT there are 67 other institutions in the US offering degrees in aerospace engineering.