Quintile class rank - can someone explain?

I've come across this term 'quintile class rank' a few times while researching college admissions. Can anyone explain what it means and how it might impact my college applications? I'm a little bit stressed about it, so any help would be great! Thanks!

Quintile class rank is a way of organizing students' academic performance within their high school graduating class by dividing the class into five equal parts, known as quintiles. Each quintile represents 20% of the class, with the first quintile representing the top-performing 20% of students and the fifth quintile representing the lower-performing 20%.

The purpose of organizing class ranks in this manner is to provide a less specific ranking metric than traditional class ranks, which assign individual ranks to students based on their exact position in the class (e.g., 7th out of 100 students). Some colleges and high schools prefer using quintiles because they believe it allows for a more balanced comparison of students, considering class rank can vary quite a bit between different high schools with different academic profiles.

When it comes to college applications, your class rank or quintile can impact admission decisions to varying degrees, depending on the college's admission requirements and policies. Some colleges may place a heavier emphasis on class rank, while others may not prioritize it as much. Generally, colleges recognize that class rank isn't the sole indicator of a student's potential and will consider various factors such as standardized test scores (if required), grade point average (GPA), essays, recommendation letters, extracurricular activities, and more.

To understand how your class rank might impact your college application, research the average class rank of admitted students for the schools you are interested in, and compare it to yours to get a sense of whether you might be a competitive candidate. Some schools even publish this information as part of their admitted-student profile on the college's website or within benchmarking tools such as CollegeVine's Chancing Engine.

However, keep in mind that most colleges use a holistic admissions process, which means they consider your application as a whole rather than making a decision based solely on your class rank. It's important to present a well-rounded application showcasing your strengths, interests, and unique qualities alongside your academic achievements.