For high income earners/asset holders, if you don’t get aid from the most expensive/generous school you are looking at, you probably won’t get need-based aid from anyone. And that’s the question the OP asked. He/she didn’t ask for a EFC estimate, he/she asked what levels of parental assets made filling out the FA forms a total waste of time. Therefore the most generous school’s caculation is exactly the one to look at.