(Part 2, continued)
If you do decide to go the PhD route…
I think you have a perfectly good shot at a PhD program. Having at least 1 year of Middle Egyptian is a massive advantage in admissions, though not every program will admit to it, and 2 years is even better. Old Egyptian is very easy to learn with a solid grounding in Middle Egyptian; Late Egyptian is significantly different, however, so some exposure to Late Egyptian (preferably with hieratic training) would help set your application apart. Your exposure to Greek is helpful if you plan to focus on the later periods or papyrology.
Excavation experience, ANY excavation experience, looks good on a CV/resume. Getting permission to participate on a dig in Egypt is extremely difficult for undergraduates and even graduate students, and professors know that. Archaeological field schools are also frightfully expensive, obviously, and the few scholarships barely put a dent in the overall cost.
Your curatorial experience at the Penn Museum is a nice plus, and any volunteer or intern experience there would also bolster a PhD application. To tie everything together in a nice package, you’d need a very strong writing sample (a section of a senior thesis works best) and thoughtful, well-crafted personal statements that outline clearly your specific areas of interest in the field, your reasons for applying to each program, and why you think you’d be a good fit for each program.
A glaring weakness in your application, which could sink your chances if not rectified, is a seeming lack of reading knowledge of German or French. One must be able to read at least one of them for a solid shot at a good PhD program. If you decide to go the PhD route, spend some of your free time this summer learning German or French. Sandberg’s “German for Reading” and “French for Reading” books are superb and designed for humanities students.
If you decide not to go the PhD route…
You’ll land on your feet, just like most Penn graduates. Postmodern gave you very good advice in post #17. It may help you to start thinking of specific skills you bring to the table and then think about the careers that utilize those skillsets.
Also think about what exactly you find so interesting about Egyptology. Is it the brain puzzle of translating texts? Is it the country itself? Is it learning about other cultures? If you can isolate what interests you, you might find it easier to find other careers that would likewise challenge and satisfy you.
Humanities majors find gainful employment in many different fields, as homerdog pointed out. Also keep in mind that it’s increasingly common for people to switch careers at least once during their lifetime, and you are by no means “locked in” to a career (or lack thereof) this early! I doubt many of the older posters on this forum had the faintest idea as college students what their future career(s) would be.
As a rule of thumb, I tend to recommend a career in Egyptology, ancient history, or archaeology only to those who genuinely can’t picture themselves doing anything else. Even for those in graduate school, it’s best to cultivate desirable skills such as GIS experience, museum studies certification, etc.