I am a very beginning cake decorator in progress. Everytime I do a cake, it cracks on the top. Am I overbaking, underbaking? Even after I ice it, the crack opens up on top. Please help

Sounds like overbaking - you should take it out when it barely springs back if you press gently with your finger. A simple solution is to turn it over so the top is the bottom - that will get you a flat surface (the bottom) to crumbcoat and decorate.

This link, http://www.chsugar.com/consumer/secrets_cake.html , says too much flour, not enough liquid or too much mixing.

Betty Crocker says, http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/supermoist-cakes/faq , oven too hot, baked too long, wrong size pan, pans too close to each other, overmixing.

great links debi

Does it crack during baking or during the cooling process when it's out of the pan?

janh - during the cooling process. Looked great in the pan