I got accepted to this one school and in the letter it said that my academic achievements qualify me for merit scholarship. However I will be sent information on it " in the next few weeks" Is this common practice for some private colleges? It has me a bit worried. On the other hand my acceptance letter was very detailed and mentioned things that I specifically mentioned in my essays and information that’s in my resume/ LinkedIn. 
No other school did this.
My other question is should I contact the financial aid office before I am given my merit aid amount or after? There are certain things on the FASFA that I need to explain. There is no box to explain special circumstances when filling it out. Will I look pushy or proactive if I reach out to the school first?
Merit aid is often given by the admissions folks. Need based aid is given by the financial aid office.
Is this an early decision acceptance? If not…just hang tight and wait for your info to come.
If you have special circumstances you need to provide to financial aid for need based aid purposes, contact the financial aid office and find out their process for special circumstances considerations, they will tell you.