  In a metric variable based Hamiltonian quantization, we give a prescription
for constructing semiclassical matter-geometry states for homogeneous and
isotropic cosmological models. These "collective" states arise as infinite
linear combinations of fundamental excitations in an unconventional "polymer"
quantization. They satisfy a number of properties characteristic of
semiclassicality, such as peaking on classical phase space configurations. We
describe how these states can be used to determine quantum corrections to the
classical evolution equations, and to compute the initial state of the universe
by a backward time evolution.
