start looking into grants and scholarships a year before you intend to go....really search because it can save you loads of money

Check out the school of design, architecture, art and planning at the University of Cincinnati. They're ranked 2nd in the nation after Harvard in architecture, and they offer dual degrees in planning/urban design and architecture; not sure about social work .. though I am sure it would be a manageable task as I have several friends who are in the process of receiving dual degrees.

In terms of financing your education, daap is pretty affordable as compared to the other, comparatively ranked schools.

Thanks for the responses guys!

try not to rely to heavily on national rankings, that's not always a good indicator of what will be right for you. what's good for one person, isn't right for you and vice versa. a lot of schools get ranked higher for criteria that you may not be as stringent about, so make sure to talk to students and take a good look at what the faculty are doing outside of the classroom. that will give you more valuable information than a design intelligence report.

i applied to wash u this past spring, but for different reasons than you probably. i'm not as familiar with the social work dual degree, but what i do know what the facilities are like and went to the open house this past april. the facilities from what i observed are very good. nice building and studios, equipped with all of the digital fabrication bells and whistles. the architecture building is physically connected to the kemper art museum which exhibits art works and houses the architecture library. so that's a great resource to have at your fingertips. the school is not ivy league, but they like to model themselves in that fashion. the distance from the east coast hinders them a bit, but they still attract prominent guest lecturers and guest professors. wash u is a reputable name, and is held in high esteem from what i've gathered. there is a lot of very good faculty there who are doing very interesting things, and the dean is a very dynamic guy. there's a lot of very intriguing things going on, i just felt like there wasn't a common thread tying everything together that spelt out a clear mission.

that being said, i personally didn't want to live in st.louis and i felt like people there, the students and some of the professors, were a bit aloof. it seemed people took themselves a little too seriously, and it didn't feel like a good fit for me. that was my reaction, and you might have a very different reaction.

i'm starting at tulane this fall, and if you're interesting in working with low-income areas and working hands-on, i highly recommend you take a look at tulane. the city is begging for attention and strategies for rebuilding. i've observed that tulane is doing more individual projects on a case-by-case basis, like what they are doing with the tulane city center. even if you are wanting to look at urban design on a broader scale, there is certainly plenty of opportunity there as well. they have the tulane regional urban design center. the tulane city center provides architectural services for groups and individuals who may not have the resources to hire an architect. check out the cornerstones project and you can see some of the work they've been doing and the connections that have been made with the people in the communities being served. cornerstonesproject.org. the school has been receiving a lot of funding and grants for these programs as well as national recognition for the work being done. an interesting place to be right now, but i'm obviously partial.