In this study, a genetic algorithm was utilized to optimize the stacking sequence of a composite plate subjected to a high velocity impact. The aim is to minimize the maximum backplane displacement of the plate. In the finite element model, we idealized the impactor using solid elements and modeled the composite plate by shell elements to reduce the analysis time. Various tests were carried out to investigate the effect of parameters in the genetic algorithm such as the type of variables, population size, number of discrete variables, and mutation probability.