Post Graduate Program in Advanced Construction Management (PGP-ACM) is the best course offered at NIMCAR. 

The Pune campus is the best among all as the placements are great there. However, the Hyderabad campus is also not bad if not better than the Pune campus. The faculty is top-notch as well.

It is highly unlikely to get a shift from Hyderabad to Pune. You may like the Pune campus but the Hyderabad campus is also really good and you should not worry much about which campus you are getting.

My brother is a mechanical engineer who took the path you're planning to take. You can surely do ACM from NICMAR. Although, I will recommend that you do it from the Pune Campus. 

It is better in terms of Placement opportunities available. It is more diverse and will help you in being exposed to varied perspectives.

A lot of opportunities await you as a Mechanical Engineer in the Middle East in HVAC and in the MEP Departments of Construction Companies.

There is a clear demarcation between the both. Project management is basically preparing a student for the project industry whereas advanced construction management is related to construction projects. 

• At NICMAR, the first year of both the courses are the same as any other general management.
• But from next year you get the projects according to your subjects like PEM students get the project industry experience in the oil or gas industry whereas ACM students get exposure to the construction projects.
• For both the courses there is a perfect mix of faculty internally as well as some renowned professionals from outside, so that students can learn every aspect of their course.
• Considering the profile, it totally depends upon your interest but mostly it has been seen that the civil engineers opt for ACM while mechanical or electrical engineers opt for PEM.
• Though it is not mandatory, it totally depends upon the choice of an individual.

Lastly, we can say that there is a clear difference between the two courses, so search for the same before taking admission in any of the fields.

One of my friends studied at NICMAR. According to him, the software that is part of the curriculum are: 

• MS Project - It is used for relatively small-scale projects.
• Primavera - This is the advanced version of MSP with some changes in its interface.
• Excel - Risk.
• Candy - This is used for cost and quantity estimation.
• Tally - It is used for Project Accounting.
• MS Access - It is used for records management and project reviewing.

Among all these MS Project will be mostly used for your project. Also, most companies use MSP for planning.

Gathering more information and knowledge about the Project Management System is important because it is the core of the course. It will definitely be helpful for securing a job offer.

You can definitely join NITIE as a fresher. You will have ample learning and placement opportunities at NITIE. 

NITIE has placements at par with any other B school in India. NITIE is one of very few B-schools that conduct separate lateral and common placement processes for experienced and fresher. Also, NITIE has a magnificent ROI.

In case your academic record is not good and you have no prior work experience then it’s better to join a job and prepare for next year’s CAT. You can’t improve your academics but this way, you can improve your overall profile. 

So, choose the option that suits you best. 

The admission process (criterion) followed by NITIE, Mumbai for the PGDISEM courses offered by the institution is as follows:

• The applicants must acquire a degree in an Engineering/Technology-related UG Course in any department with an aggregate of 60% marks (55% for SC/ST/PD applicants).
• After this, you are required to appear for and attempt the CAT examination; the cut-off percentile for NITIE is around 95 for General candidates, 80 for NC-OBC candidates, and 70 for SC and ST candidates.
• The shortlisted applicants are invited for the Group Discussion and Personal Interview round conducted by the institution.
• Several seats for these programs of the institution are for Sponsored applicants.

After all the rounds of the admission procedure are completed, the status of his/her application is conveyed by the institution as per the norms or criteria followed. My brother received an offer letter from the institution a few days after he got selected for admission into the PGDISEM course of the institute. 

NICMAR does not give 100% placement. You can confirm this from any of the graduates from the institute.

• At NICMAR, for a PG in the quantum survey program at Hyderabad, you will get a package of 4 lakhs minimum. For ACM and other two years program packages, it will reach around 4.5 to 6.5 lakhs per annum.
• Various companies like Asian paints, Hilti pay around 12 to 14 lakhs per annum along with Skoda but it is only for business development profile. As per the information above, you can get a minimum package of 4 lakhs if you are a fresher with an average academic record.
• Therefore, if you have not taken out a large loan and you feel that with a bit of savings and a package of 4 lakh you will be able to pay off the loan, then go for it. But if you belong to a middle-class family and plan to take a loan of 14 to 16 lakhs then this will not be a wise move for you.
• The situation of the industry is not good at all. L&T, Shapoorji Pallonji, and some other companies are the only ones that pay the salary on time. Various companies like simplex, HCC have a 1 to 3-month delay in paying salaries to their employees. A lot of graduates tend to start from site execution as Assistant project managers but the work pressure is too much for them and they give up after 1 to 1.5 years.
• From the current CTC, the hike is not that much and somewhere around 12 to 15%. There are various engineers from NICMAR with 10 to 12 years of experience who are still working with an 80,000 salary in a construction company as AGM/ GM. A lot of graduates also join corporate interior companies with a package that is even lower than the construction company.

So, it won’t be wise to opt for a two-year ACM or any other program if you belong to a middle-class family and plan on taking a loan. You can rather go for a PGP quantity survey which is for one year or you can study hard for CAT and opt for MBA from a level 1 B-school where you will be paid well and will have strong career growth.

There is no comparison of NICMAR with RICS. If you want to pursue construction management, NICMAR is one of the best colleges in the country. With 30 years of experience in the civil industry, the college has produced many managers over the years. Also, well-designed courses, real-time industry exposure along decent placements make NICMAR popular among the masses. According to the recent placement highlights the average CTC offered at the institute is 6 LPA.