<p>You will not be doing yourself a favor by writing any of that in an essay. Your grades are what they are and colleges have heard, and didn’t want to, every excuse in the book. </p>
<p>Use your essay to tell them things that will make them want you on campus. And get comfortable with realistic schools, you can always transfer. </p>
<p>There are few miracles in college admissions. If your stats don’t look a lot like the ones of the kids they accepted last year, you probably are not getting in. It’s not between you and the kid in the top 10% of your class having taken easier classes. It’s between you and the huge number of highly qualified kids in the top 10% from all over the world.</p>