As a father of a recent ND graduate and current Tulane student I can provide some insight between those two colleges. The political spectrum at Tulane is more much liberal then at Notre Dame, but I think to classify Notre Dame as conservative is not quite accurate. Political activism is much stronger at Tulane, while the majority of ND students tend to be apolitical. A outspoken conservative at Tulane will find himself/herself facing intolerance, but a liberal at ND will be acceptable as all points of views are accepted. Outspoken, at either end of the political spectrum, students at ND will be shunned by their classmates at a majority of ND undergrads try to avoid extremism. Your political opinions at ND are likely to be acceptable as long as your not standing on a soapbox yelling on the north quad, but get ready for some some intellectual questions.
The differences on campus life between Tulane and Notre Dame are stark. There were some many on campus activities at Notre Dame that my son never left campus his freshman year till March, there are basically no on campus activities at Tulane. Tulane’s campus is in a very nice area of New Orleans, a 40 minute street car (trolley car) ride to the French Quarter. ND is suburban with the small city of South Bend 2 miles south and farms two miles north. Both colleges offer great educations, but the alumni network at ND blows away the network at Tulane, its not even close. Football weekends at ND will be something you will remember the rest of your life, so will be Mardi Gras at Tulane.