Miranda Cosgrove, the 18-year-old star of "iCarly," the hit Nickelodeon television series, can't wait to get out on the road.

The TV show is not filmed before a live audience, so Cosgrove rarely gets the opportunity to come face to face with her fans.

That changes this weekend when Cosgrove and her band launch a two-and-a-half month cross-country tour that will bring her to the amphitheater in Hersheypark for two shows on Sunday.

"This is only my second time going on a bus and traveling around the country," Cosgrove says during a break from filming the show at a Hollywood studio. "I love the whole experience. It's fun seeing how many fans the show has."

The tour also will give her a chance to catch up with all the friends she made while shooting the 2003 film "School of Rock," which stars Jack Black.

Black plays a musician who pretends to be a teacher and turns his classroom of kids into a rock band. Cosgrove is spot-on as a grade-grubber named Summer Hathaway who winds up being the highly effective band manager.

Cosgrove, who lives in Los Angeles, says the youthful cast members of the movie have remained in contact over the years.

"I stay in touch with all of those kids from the movie, even though none of them live in California," she says. "So, when I go on tour, I get to see all of them. I already have friends in a lot of different cities."

Cosgrove, who travels with a seven-piece band, is touring in support of her new five-song EP, "High Maintenance," which was released earlier this year.

"Dancing Crazy," the first single off the EP, was co-written by Avril Lavigne, who also co-wrote a song on Cosgrove's debut album, "Sparks Fly" (2010).

The title track of the new EP was written and produced by Rivers Cuomo, the frontman for Weezer.

"I'm a huge Weezer fan," Cosgrove says. "He had seen my (TV) show and we ended up getting together. It was really fun to hang out with him for three or four days. He had never written anything for a young girl before. It was interesting. He's really smart and he went to Harvard."

Cosgrove also plans to go to college. She had planned to begin studies this fall and has been accepted at the University of Southern California and New York University.

She decided, however, to defer enrollment until next year so she can film the fifth season of "iCarly," which stars Cosgrove as Carly Shay, a teenager who has her own web show with friends Sam (Jennette McCurdy) and Freddie (Nathan Kress).

The program was honored as the Favorite TV Show at the Kids' Choice Awards in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The show also launched Cosgrove's singing career as she sings its theme song, "Leave It All to Me." The "iCarly" soundtrack (2008) features four songs by Cosgrove.

Cosgrove, who plans to study film, says she still hasn't made up her mind which school she'll attend. She says she has T-shirts from both USC and NYU and has been wearing them on alternate days to see if one feels more comfortable than the other.

Her father attended USC and the school is about 30 minutes from where she grew up.

"I know I'd be comfortable there," she says. "If I were to stay in LA, it would be a lot easier to maybe do a movie or some other stuff."

On the other hand, living in New York has its appeal.

"I've always loved New York and it would be fun to go someplace different and live in a different part of the country," she says.

Cosgrove is undeterred by reports that actress Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger in the "Harry Potter" films, left Brown University because other students made fun of her because of her fame. Watson has denied those reports.

"I don't worry about it too much," she says. "I love school. I like people a lot and I like meeting new people. I know I might meet people who might not like me because of who I am, but I'm not that worried about it.

"That's their problem, not mine."

Miranda Cosgrove

Sun. 4 and 6:30 p.m.

Included in park admission:

$53.95 ages 9-54

$32.95 ages 3-8 and ages 55-69

$21.95 for ages 70 and over

Free for children 2 and under

Hersheypark Amphitheater

(800) HERSHEY

www.hersheypark.com