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Glite Dictionary
🚪 To enter 🎓 To be accepted 🚆 To arrive

to get in

138 2.7
To be accepted to a college or university after you apply
  • phrasal verb
  • /ɡɛt ɪn/
: ser admitido (en)
  • She worked hard to improve her grades so that she could get in to the prestigious college.
  • try to get in

I was really, I'm proud that I got in.

Examples

  • I didn't think I was gonna get in.

    United 93 (2006)

  • More residents hung around the South Administration, waiting to get in to see their counselors.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Anyway, before we go, which house do you think you would get in, man?

  • You need a special permit to get in.

    Francis of Assisi (1961)

  • Are we willing to talk about families who get in because of their connections and wealth?

    Academic text (2006)

  • But I can't get in.

    Bad Boys (1995)

  • After submitting my application, I am hoping to get in to my dream university this fall.

  • Many students are anxious about whether they will get in to their chosen schools after the results are announced.

Synonyms

to get into
vsto get in
222 2.7

Be accepted by a school or university

is broader, applying to acceptance by any institution after applying
to make it
vsto get in
  • Informal
199 3.2

To pass a test or be chosen in a selection

refers specifically to being admitted to institutions after applying

Antonyms

rejection
182 3.0

Not being accepted by people or a group

How Accepted

to get in
138 2.7
offer
∞ 1.0
to waitlist
2 3.7
rejected
67 2.6

Surface Forms

get in infinitive
getting in present participle
gets in third person singular
got in past
gotten in past participle

Morphology

get + in

The meaning 'to arrive at a station' is directly derivable from combining 'get' (to arrive/come) with 'in' (into an interior/location), i.e. arriving into a place. This verb + particle composition is a common, cross-linguistic pattern and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Get in paints the picture of a student standing outside a college gate and then being let inside: you get through the gate and are in. That's why 'to get in' means 'to be accepted' to a school.