Can I use both estar and ser with the adjective aceptado/a? ie.
El niño está aceptado en la universidad
or is it
El niño es aceptado en la universidad
?
"ha sido aceptado/admitido", or "fue aceptado/admitido", works and "está aceptado/admitido" does not to refer to a candidate having been admitted to university.
"estar aceptado" could be used to refer to some practice, or even some word, that has been or is accepted.
- No está aceptado (= Está prohibido) fumar en el aula. (Smoking in the classroom is not allowed / is forbidden.)
- La palabra "estándar" está aceptada. (The term "estándar" is an accepted word.)
"ser aceptado" in a simple tense could be used to refer to somebody being accepted by their peers.
- El mono no es aceptado por los gorilas. (The monkey is not accepted by the gorillas.)
Both the following forms are common to refer to the status of havig been admitted:
El niño ha sido aceptado/admitido en la universidad
El niño está aceptado/admitido en la universidad
which means "the kid has been admitted to university". The first one sounds more correct to me, but Google shows that both are used on university websites.
"Ser aceptado/admitido" (being admitted) is a one-time event, and that is why, in this case, we refer to it in the past (ha sido admitido). You can use es admitido if you refer to the event of being admitted instead of the status of having been admitted, for example in a conditional sentence:
Si el niño es admitido en la Universidad de Navarra, lo celebraremos (If the kid is admitted to the University of Navarra, we will celebrate it)
Note also that using the word niño (kid) to refer to someone at university age is very location-dependent: in some places (such as the north of Spain), you would say mi hijo (my son) or use his name instead.
