My daughter just took, and passed, the FE but she’s a civil engineer so she needs it. My nephew finished a masters directly after undergrad and didn’t need the GRE to continue at the same school. He didn’t take the FE (mechanical) but his girlfriend (environmental) did.
@colorado_mom , if by Part I you mean the FE, it is definitely NOT open book anymore. Daughter had to place all personal stuff - phone, notes, even her i-watch - in a locker before the test. She could take pencils and a calculator into the testing room, and they gave her scratch paper for notes.