Student FAQs

Our staff is committed to the efficient an secure handling of your mail. If you experience problems with any of our services, please notify ResMail immediately by email, at ResidentialMail@northeastern.edu

This is the most effective and efficient way for us to address and track issues.  When addressing an issue on a package, please always include the shipping carrier’s tracking number in your first communication.  This will speed up the process, in remedying any of your concerns.

Yes.

Different spellings or nicknames may be rejected by our computerized system and the mail will be returned to sender, so be sure your family, friends and business contacts do not use nicknames in your address. Also, please let us know if you are expecting something that might have been sent to you under your parents name by mistake. Our database searches for and recognizes the name that is on file with Housing and Residential Life. To view the correct name on file, please visit your Housing Online Portal through the Student Hub and click, “Mailbox and Mail Forwarding Information”; the name listed in this portal is the name listed on file for you in the mailroom.

For example, mail addressed to “Skip Somebody” may not be accepted if Housing and Residential Life has them listed as “Richard Somebody”. If your name has been changed, whether it be your given name or surname, please be sure to notify the Registrar with this change so we can ensure that your mail is properly received and sorted.

Absolutely. We have no way of knowing where to return the mail without your full name and address. As a general rule, all mail should include a return address, including full name, address and postal code.

Please use the following format:

Jane Pack                                                          Bill Husky

123456                                                            654321

7 Speare Place                                             716 Columbus Ave.

Boston, MA 02115                                   Boston, MA 02120

This will be dependent on which side of campus you reside.  You will keep the 6 Digit Mail ID the entire time you are a student at Northeastern.

Cash and gift cards should never be sent through the mail, especially if done so without a tracking number. Birthday cards and envelopes containing such items are often ripped open and stolen before they even reach the mailroom, we cannot control this and while we will log in any damaged mail as a package for student pick up, we will not accept responsibility for any mail or package that was received from the courier already damaged. We also ask that envelopes not be sent containing sand, or excessive glitter. More often than not, the envelopes these come in are not properly secured and will leak its contents not only on your mail, but all of the mail in the batch.

Perishable items such as food or flowers are also prohibited.

We cannot control when the package will be picked up and will not accept responsibility for spoilage.

This includes any form of COD (call on delivery) packages and similar to the following food subscription services:

• Amazon Prime Market
• Edible Arrangements
• HelloFresh
• Insomnia Cookies
• Blue Apron
• Freshly
• Home Chef
• Omaha Steaks
• Daily Harvest
• Georgetown Cupcakes
• Imperfect Foods
• etc.

If it is absolutely necessary for a perishable package to be delivered (i.e., for medical purposes), we ask that you call or email us before having these items sent to make arrangements.

Packages that contain alcohol must be picked up by a 21+ student. A government issued ID must be provided by that student in order to receive it.

Starting in Spring of 2023, Northeastern has done away with mailboxes being utilized in residences, and has shifted to a centralized USPS Mail pickup.  You will be notified by Residential Mail Services, via e-mail, when there is mail for you at your respective Mail Center, and then you can go and retrieve it at your convenience, during regular operating hours.

No, you cannot.  Residential Mail staff no longer makes rounds to each residence building, and these drop slots have been covered and put out of commission.

You can drop off mail at either Mail Center, for it to be sent out, or you can use any of the many USPS blue drop boxes, located around campus (see attached document).  NU_BlueBoxLocations_USPS

First, please check your Housing Online Portal through the Student Hub and click, “Mailbox and Mail Forwarding Information” to see if your mail information has been updated.

If you fail to notify people of your new address, your mail may be delayed or returned to sender. Please change your address for items such as bills, bank statements, debit/credit cards, jury duty summons, social security cards, IRS tax refunds, magazine subscriptions which you receive regularly by contacting the appropriate service providers.

Fortunately, you will keep your 6 Digit Mail ID, the entire time you are a student at Northeastern, which should help minimize any delays, and help prevent mail from being returned.

Please use the following format:

Jane Pack                                                          Bill Husky

123456                                                              654321

7 Speare Place                                               716 Columbus Ave.

Boston, MA 02115                                      Boston, MA 02120

This will be dependent on which side of campus you reside.  You will keep the 6 Digit Mail ID the entire time you are a student at Northeastern.

Resmail accepts packages for resident students from USPS and all major couriers. An email notification to your Northesatern e-mail account is generated, once the package is entered into our computer system. If you have not received a notification and believe your package has delivered to Resmail, email us at ResidentialMail@northeastern.edu.

Please include your tracking number, in any communcation to us.  This will help speed up the process in remedying any concerns.

If your package is unclaimed 14 days after initial receipt, it is subject to being returned to sender.  Residential Mail generally waits longer to send packages back, making every effort to get packages to the recipients, but 14 days is the official policy.

Overnight couriers deliver at various times of the day. If you are expecting an emergency delivery, email ResMail as far in advance as you can, to see if it can be processed faster.  If we know a specific package (medications, for example) are coming in via priority shipment, we can keep an eye out for those, and get them into the system faster.

No. We accept deliveries from all major express couriers. You may want to compare couriers to determine which one offers the best price, package-tracking and insuring capabilities you require.

Before you formally check out of a residence hall, update your new address on the Student Hub portal.

You should also fill out a change of address form online with the USPS, as well as notify your family, friends, and business contacts (bills, magazine subscriptions, etc.) of your new address as soon as possible.

If you are moving back home for the summer or for a semester for co-op, please verify your home or forwarding address on the portal and the Registrar at least a week before leaving campus. If the university lists your current on-campus address as your home address, you must change it on the Student Hub portal and with the Registrar, or your mail will be returned to sender.

Regardless of your situation, we urge you to verify your home address with the Registrar before leaving campus.

Yes. ResMail has a computerized forwarding address system that enables us to forward your mail for up to nine months after you withdraw from university housing.

This is why it is very important to confirm your change of address on the Student Hub portal, the Registrar, USPS, family, friends, and business contacts each time you move.

We will forward all first-class mail, periodicals and non-registered USPS packages for up to 90 days. All other packages will not be accepted by ResMail and are subject to the courier’s policy for final destination.

Please be aware that bulk rate mail comes in two classifications: “Endorsed Bulk Rate” and “Unendorsed Bulk Rate.” If the bulk rate stamp is followed by a phrase indicating that the sender will pay to have it forwarded, this item is considered “Endorsed Bulk Mail,” so ResMail will give USPS a forwarding address for you. Typically, Endorsed Bulk Rate pieces include phrases like “Forwarding postage guaranteed,” “Return postage guaranteed” or “Address correction requested.” If the bulk rate stamp is not followed by one of these phrases, this mail will not be forwarded.

Some examples of mail that is usually not forwarded include catalogs from vendors such as Victoria’s Secret, Dell Computers, the Gap, etc.

Mail from non-profits such as blood drive information will continue to be forwarded as long as you have an updated address in our system.