Help, everytime I make a cheesecake it falls in the middle, WHY? I follow the directions, put water under the cheese cake while baking and then I don't but no matter what I do when it cools it falls. Can anyone tell me why and what I am doing wrong?

Sounds like it's underdone. Maybe if you lower the temp a little. The edges should be a bit firm and the very middle should be slightly jiggly.
A few tips:
Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temp before starting.
When it's just about done, turn off the oven, run a knife between the edge of the cheesecake and the pan, (to prevent cracking. Not necessary if you're covering the top), leave the oven door slightly opened, and let it cool off in the oven for about 1 hour. Then let it cool at room temp for another hour, then refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Also: Make sure you're mixing your cream cheese and sugar quite well. It should be fluffy. Add your eggs last and mix just until they're incorporated and you don't see yellow streaks. Overmixing the eggs can cause unwanted resultes in a cheesecake. Fold your batter over with a rubber spatula by hand to make sure all the eggs are mixed in.

-Rezzy

rezzy...I take mine out of the water bath when standing in the oven... do you?

I had cracking problems... so hope you'r info helps

Thank you all. I do have cracking problems. But I will try the foil. Thanks Rezzy. I was thinking that I had over baked it. I didn't leave it in the oven to cool either.

I also have learned to put foil loosly on top so it doesn't brown.

You all are great. Thanks again.

Kandi

I've never had cracks and I've never had one sink either. I've have had the edges cook up a little higher than the middle, but that can easily be fixed. I always bake at 275 for an hour and a half, then I turn off the oven and let it finish cooking as the over cools, careful not to open the oven door during this time. After the 3 hours of cooling, I put the cheesecake in the fridge for at least 6 hours. I've never had a cake crack. I did have just the top edge make tiny cracks once (not in the whole cake) but the only thing I did differently was I forgot and opened the oven door when I turned the oven off. I closed it as quicly as possible but I guess it was too late.