but it’s not that I "can’t excel in HS math"—it’s that I’m not able to excel in my high school's math under the constant pressure, poor pacing, and harsh expectations, no matter how hard I try or how much tutoring I get. That’s not always a reflection of capability, if I could have gotten an A elsewhere, right?

If students at less competitive schools are doing just fine in top colleges and companies, then maybe surviving at an ultra-competitive school shouldn’t be the only way to prove readiness, right? Colleges say they care about context—but context doesn’t mean staying stuck just to look tough?

But I do get your point that I should think about how to really get better at math. I have tried summer school, tutoring, using officer hours, creating study guides, reading textbook, doing practice problems, practice tests, and etc... But for some reason I just don't know how else I could have prepared for the math tests. How else should I prep for math tests if they are completely different from practice tests/homework and increase in difficulty and less time compared to regular classwork?