I feel as though mu diversity might allow me to have an advantage in the “college competition.” I have 3.86 gpa and a pretty good SAT score (2010 right now- hoping to get it up to 2100 or even 2200 with tons of practice over summer). I am a homosexual male, a vegan, and had an eating disorder for 6+ years with major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and OCD (all diagnoses). Will this allow me to get any upperhand within the college admissions process? I feel as though it brings diversity, even though I am white.
None of this gives you an upper hand. But you can certainly write about your struggles in a practical, calculated manner.
Mental illness is sometimes (often?) viewed not as diversity, but as a liability.
Oops! Haha I forgot to mention that I recovered from almost all of them! Probably good to take not of 
Be careful discussing mental illness…there are so many kids, why take the chamce you’ll relapse on their campus? Not fair, but be careful how much you divulge willingly on this…
I pretty much finished writing my college app atm. It basically discusses an event where i had to take on a leadership roll (secretary of NAMI club- national alliance on mental illnesses) and had to discuss eating disorders in front of about a hundred people. I describe my anxiety leading up to it, my past in brief (dont wanna be too descriptive), and the result of the experience. I have it set up so the first speech i give in the presentation is somewhat mediocre, whereas the second one, in which i had no other choice but to talk about my eating disorder, causes a change within my core being. I also relate the weather and environmental conditions to the condition of my psyche, changing from a stormy day to more of a focus on the beauty of Earth and springtime.
Unusual question, new poster.
No, that’s not the sort of “diversity” they have in mind.
Go back over the essay, this fall.
Obviously :)>-
I’m asking my AP English Lang teacher to go over it on Monday (already had peer review and parental comments)
Think carefully about whether you want to be the “diversity” student at a school that doesn’t have a lot of gay vegans. Given your previous history, are you strong enough to thrive without a large supportive community
There are excellent schools who have vegan options and supportive gay communities. That’s where I’d focus my search.
Being gay and vegan is simply no big deal any more from a college application perspective. My D has informed me that ‘coming out’ is ‘old fashioned’ because no one cares (at least not among her peers at university). 30% of my S’s class at his LAC say they are vegetarian or vegan of one form or another. Obviously, neither of these statement are true everywhere in the country - but the point is that you aren’t going to get much credit unless you are looking to be a trail blazer some place where gay vegans are are thin on the ground (and as qialah pointed out, not a fun place to be necessarily.
As for the mental health issues, it is a double-edged sword as HRSmom points out. You’ll need to make a good case for why this is not and never will be an issue once you’re on campus because the legal liability/confidentiality issues for the schools makes them very cautious.
Maybe discuss not the mental illnesses (those are behind you, make sure they know how important that is) but what you learned from them, why they were a necessary part of who you are. Don’t use them to look diverse, use them to show how they have woven themselves as lessons into the person they will be accepting into their school.