How influential are your essays on college admissions and how do you deal with application anxiety?

Answered

I attend a very competitive gifted high school where nearly everyone has goals of attending an Ivy League school or another college of the same caliber. Most people have a GPA greater than 3.7 (many have perfect GPAs) and are involved (and successful) in many extracurriculars. I have an unweighted GPA of 3.87 (I am typically a straight A student but dealt with some mental health issues in 10th grade) and I am involved in quite a few extracurriculars (and an officer in some!), but it still seems that other students are ahead of me in many ways. I've ran for president for two different clubs, yet lost both times and serve as vice president of said clubs. Others have taken advantage of different opportunities that I wasn't even aware of until I saw their extracurriculars list or their awards, which makes me feel like what I have already been doing isn't enough even though what I'm already doing has been nearly overwhelming for me. I feel like it's also too late to start adding on extracurriculars, because colleges could probably tell that I am desperate to get as many extracurriculars as I can at the last minute. I founded my own initiative for LGBTQ+ students in my area though, so maybe that could help boost my odds a bit :) The one hope I have now apart from that initiative is my personal statement and my essays that I've started drafting, which I feel are very strong and personal/unique to me. I'm very nervous because many of these students are also applying to the same schools as me, and I feel as though they have a better chance of getting in than me which has been making me extremely anxious. How much can my essays affect my chances of getting into a college, and how should I deal with this fear of not getting into my dream schools? Should I focus on polishing my essays more or putting even more energy into my extracurriculars and the organization I founded instead (or both)? This is a lot at once so I'm very sorry for having you read all that! Thank you!