Alright, ive seen a lot of posts saying "I'm new" but i think i take the cake. I have a 90' grand prix, and i know barely anything about cars (just getting into the trade, i guess). Long story short, i would like to make my car look nice, however my status as "poor college student" is preventing me from having it done professionally. I went and got a quote, and they ran from 2000, to 3000 dollars. Im not sure if im getting ripped off, but my cars not even worth that as a whole hence, i have decided to do it myself (or at least do the prep work myself). Any suggestions/ tips? The paint is peeling pretty bad in some places, I have already removed all the rust, no corrosion, slight hail damage, and generally the paint is faded. Im also considering changing from blue to black.
Thanks for all your advice

As I have said many times, I'm not the expert, but I will give you the direction I would start. Here are some suggestions.

You said you took care of the rust. What did you do to prevent it from coming back. Maybe you can put a post on ideas to take care of this. I would think some kind of conversion coating.

The paint is peeling. You need to get all the peeling paint off. This won't be a good surface to paint on.

Hail damage, I'm not sure what this is since I'm from the west coast, but I can guess. You should use a "smoothing agent" to bring the surface level.

Figure out what paint system you are gonna use. Make sure all the products you use are compatible with each other. If you really don't want to do the color yourself, here is an idea. Prepare the body, prime, and seal. When you finish take it to an Earl Scheib, Maaco, etc. They should be able to shoot the color for you only and will only be a few hundred dollars.

The color change will make a lot more work for you. You will have to paint under the trunk, hood, doorjambs, etc. Since you're not really in love with the car, stick with the same color.

Hope this give you a good start.

All good advice from DaleCity64. Here's a couple quick tips: Late
model cars with peeling paint like a 90, somtimes a single edge razor
blade will peel the paint and clear off easy, then sand with 80# and prime.
Rust oleum automotive primer in a spray can works o.k. it will take alot
of cans though.
On those dings from Hail damage use USC brands"ICING" works good.
Smoothing agent supreme...right DaleCity?