About Us
When dining hall food gets monotonous, Boston College students face a cyclical dilemma. Ordering takeout adds up quickly, and without a car on campus, the options for accessible grocery stores are limited. The folks who brave the Green Line to make a shopping trip must be highly selective with their purchases in order to survive the commute home without too many bags, which have been known to tear open in the middle of crowded Comm. Ave. buses.
Instacart, an up-and-coming grocery delivery service, has recently made its way over to the Boston area and provides a welcomed alternative for BC students. Students ordering groceries to the Chestnut Hill area have four grocery stores to choose from: Shaw’s, Market Basket, Whole Foods and Costco. This eclectic mix of businesses serves a wide variety of needs, including basic groceries, organic options and bulk necessities.
Signing up for Instacart is free, and BC students can use the code bc14 to get free delivery and $10 off of their first orders. Once you have browsed the virtual shelves of your chosen location, a personal shopper will deliver your groceries to your dorm or apartment in less than two hours. If you know that you only have a short period of time on a certain day when you will be able to greet your personal shopper, you can also schedule a delivery in advance based on your needs. Instacart sends a reminder text message in the hour prior to your delivery with an exact estimate of the personal shopper’s arrival time.
As you check out, you are prompted to suggest replacements for your items in case any of your groceries are out of stock. Instacart goes item-by-item suggesting a similarly priced alternative, which allows you to decide in advance whether you would prefer that your personal shopper picks up a replacement or skips over something in your cart that is out of stock. If you opt out of a replacement, Instacart will refund you for any out-of-stock purchases.
Delivery costs are cheap—typically around the same price as a round trip on the T—and while tipping your personal shopper is optional, it’s certainly worth the few extra bucks to save yourself the time and labor of hauling groceries from the T to the bus to your dorm room.
Instacart also remembers your past orders, making it easy to re-order your favorite items from one virtual trip to the next. The grocery selection is not limited to food, either—Instacart users can have everything from toilet paper to alcohol to shampoo delivered directly to them.
Interested in trying Instacart out? Use the code bc14 for free delivery and $10 off your first order!
School, major and year: A&S, English and communication, 2014
Hometown: Acton, MA, but my parents recently moved to Beacon Hill, which is way cooler.
What makes the Gavel so BANGin’? Everyone is just the perfect amount of weird. It is one of very few environments in which I don't feel like the weirdest person in the room.
If you could go back in time and give yourself a pep talk the night before you moved into BC as a freshman, what is the most important piece of advice that you would give to your former self? I would offer myself a friendly reminder that everyone comes to college friend-less, and therefore looking for friends. Before coming to BC, I pictured myself eating every meal in solitude because I forgot that I wasn't the only person who would be entering day one without really knowing anybody. That was silly of me.
What is your favorite study spot on campus? Stuart law classrooms.
What is your go-to meal at Late Night? Mozzarella sticks.
What is the #1 most played song on your iTunes? "Gong Li" -- Red Hot Chili Peppers.
What is the best Halloween costume that you have ever worn? I was a Hershey's kiss as a toddler. Aaaaaand I rocked it.
If you could befriend the main characters from any TV show or movie, who would you choose and why? "The Office," because I have always thought that Jim and Pam would appreciate my sense of humor.
