Are you looking to stay within crim or focus on something crim related? If so, you may want to reevaluate your list of schools. Crim isn't really something the prestigious programs specialize in. Instead, it's the lower ranked programs that have crim-oriented departments. Places like Maryland are probably going to be the highest ranked crim programs you find within sociology.
On the other hand, crim is where the jobs are. Those jobs just aren't at prestigious universities.
To address your issues:
1. Try to get at least one letter from a sociologist. It won't kill your application if you don't, but it will be really beneficial.
2. Not really a problem, unless you're looking to do something international.
3. Can be an issue, especially with some of those schools on your list. Look at the grad student bios on some of those school's webpages. Unfortunately, many of them go from one ivy leage to the next. Let me not step onto the soap box.
4. A program not willing to fund you isn't a program worth going to. You will need some money though. Lower class people have a very hard time in academia unless they take out loans.
5. Take your GRE now. If you don't like your score, retake it. It's odd that a field such as sociology cares about a standardized test score, but that's the reality of it.
Are top programs overrated? Certainly. But you're going to get a job if you go to Berkeley, even if it's not in academia. Can we say the same about lower ranked schools? Definitely not. Unless you consider adjuncting for a couple grand a course a job you'd be willing to take. If you want suggestions on what schools to apply to, I think we need to know a little more about your interests. Finally, you're going to get mixed-reviews on emailing facutly members. Don't think that emailing faculty members will get you into any schools though. Perhaps going to a conference and networking would be slightly more beneficial.