Thank you for your answers here @mapiau. They've been really helpful. I was hoping you could answer a few more below.
The GPS website is very light on course sequencing. How does it usually work? Looking at the course schedule, I assume that during your first you take 3 core classes each quarter, and then delve into elections during you second year.
Language acquisition was certainly a draw for me, and your assessment of undergrad language classes as not so great is definitely worrying. Are there any language departments which are known to be better than others. I also noticed some languages like Korean are only taught by their respective departments, some like Bahasa are taught only by GPS, while others, like Chinese, are taught both at GPS and by their own departments. What's the difference in these classes? In the case of Chinese, for example, am I required to take it from the GPS school or am free to take it from the other departments? Is the instruction quality better at GPS or at the undergrad departments?
Are academic exchanges at all common? Do you know of any students who took classes at the Public Policy school of the U of Tokyo?
Finally, was wondering if you could tell us of any real standout, unmissable professors at GPS.